The Kerala Story film based on manipulated facts, contains hate speech: West Bengal government to Supreme Court

The Kerala Story contains hate speech and is based on manipulated facts that can lead to communal disharmony and law and order issues in the State, the West Bengal government has told the Supreme Court..The screening of the movie is likely to cause clashes among extremist groups, the government added in its counter-affidavit that defends its decision to ban the controversial film in the State to avoid “any incident of hatred and violence”."The said movie is based on manipulated facts and contains hate speech in multiple scenes that may hurt communal sentiments and cause disharmony between the communities which will eventually lead to a law and order situation, as has been been gauged from various Intelligence inputs.".The Kerala Story is a Hindi film about a group of women from Kerala who join ISIS. The film was released on May 5.Even before its release, the film invited criticism from several quarters. In Kerala, the ruling CPI(M) and the opposition Congress party alleged that it is a propaganda movie promoting a fake narrative and an agenda of right wing organisations.The present affidavit was filed after the Supreme Court had on Friday sought the State's to a plea challenging its decision.Pertinently, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud had orally remarked that the movie had been released in the rest of the country and West Bengal was not different..The petitioners in the case are the makers of the movie.In their plea, they have also challenged the constitutionality of Section 6(1) of the West Bengal Cinemas (Regulation) Act, 1954 under which the West Bengal government issued the order banning the film.The top court will continue hearing the matter tomorrow..In its response, the State government has stressed that the plea is vague, misconceived and non-maintainable as:- The Calcutta High Court is seized of the matter. "The Hon'ble High Court will be best suited to appreciate the demographics of the State ... parameters (for law and order) cannot by any stretch of imagination be indentical for two states, under indentical situation."- The ban was a policy decision based on adverse intelligence inputs;- There is no fundamental rights violation of the petitioners;It is underscored that the petitioners cannot cite financial losses as a violation of fundamental rights. Further, there is a presumption of constitutionality as to the West Bengal Cinemas (Regulation) Act, which carves out an exception for film exhibitions that may cause a breach of peace..Earlier, the Tamil Nadu government had also filed its response to the plea denying the claims by the petitioner that the State had imposed a shadow ban on the film..The Kerala High Court had, on May 5, refused to stay the release of the film.The Madras High Court on May 4 rejected a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a ban on the movie on the ground that the Kerala High Court was already hearing a similar challenge and that the petitioner had approached the Court at "the last hour".The Supreme Court also refused to interfere with the release of film or to pass any other orders earlier..[BREAKING] Theatres not screening The Kerala Story due to poor performance/response, no ban on film: Tamil Nadu tells Supreme Court.Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.