New Delhi, May 18.
The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed for now a ban imposed by the Bengal government on public release of the controversial movie the Kerala story in the state. The bench has also asked the film makers to carry a disclaimer stating that this was a work of fiction.
There’s was no data to suggest that over 32,000 girls had been converted in the state as the movie claims, a bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud observed. This is a distortion, he said.
Senior advocate Harish Salve conceded that there was no authentic data on the subject and agreed to remove the figure from the movie in the disclaimer. An additional disclaimer would be inserted by May 20 stating that there was no data to suggest how many had been converted in the state.
CJI Chandrachud, a great votary of free speech, argued that no movie can be banned only because of apprehension of violence. State governments were under a constitutional obligation to provide all security for the screening of any movie, he said.
He stuck to the old line – don’t watch if you don’t like, and stayed the Bengal government ban on the movie. The state government had argued that it feared violence to ban the release of the movie in the state.
The film, about some girls who joined the terrorist group ISIS, has been released and is doing fairly brisk business in several states. There were sporadic incidents of violence in at least one city of Maharashtra following the screening of the movie.
Tamil Nadu said that there was no ban on the movie but that the movie had been taken off as it had few takers. The court asked Tamil Nadu to also make arrangements for safe screening of the movie.
The court, which also comprised Justices P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala, said that it would watch the film for itself before taking up a challenge to the film certification granted to the movie by the Censor Board after the court vacation.
The court breaks for the summer vacation beginning this Friday though vacation benches will ensure normal functioning.
Among those who opposed the screening of the movie were senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Huzzefa Ahmadi and Gopal Shankarnarayan. Ahmadi urged the court to consider the impact the release of the movie would have on fraternity in Indian society.
He said that it would also enhance prejudices and increase discrimination against Muslims in daily life. It will lead to ghettoization, and people won’t get places for rent, he said. The bench though said that it would address the certification issue after it has watched the movie for itself.
The movie, Sibal, has argued only stokes Islamophobia and paranoia and creates disorder. Public order can be a ground for restricting free speech in any art form, he argued.
The film-makers, after much public criticism on the number of women who had allegedly gone off to join the ISIS, backtracked to claim that it was only the story of three girls.
The opposition to the movie though has worked in its favour and drawn in more audiences than a critically acclaimed Afwaah by Sudhir Misra. The Kerala High Court had initially rejected a PIL to ban the screening of the movie. That is under a challenge in the top court.
Another challenge is to a Madras High Court order on the issue of granting such a propaganda movie a certification for public viewing. Ahmadi urged the bench to watch the movie for itself and pass further orders if need been to prevent the movie from being screened widely.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta brushed off the fears of violence if the movie is allowed to be screened. “Movies are only a reflection of societal realities,” he said. There is no violence anywhere due to the release of the movie, he claimed. “One month won’t change anything.”
The movie has been made tax-free by the two BJP ruled states Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The Opposition ruled states have been apprehensive that it would create unrest.
