No stay on release of 'The Kerala Story', Supreme Court refuses to entertain plea

New Delhi: Amid the allegation that the movie 'The Kerala Story' was trying to spread the Sangh Parivar agenda, the Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a plea seeking a stay on the theatrical release of the movie.

The plea had sought a stay claiming it was the "worst kind of hate speech and an audio-visual propaganda".

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocate Nizam Pasha told a bench of Justices K M Joseph and B V Nagarathna that the trailer of the movie has garnered 16 million views. The film is scheduled for a theatrical release on Friday (May 5).

Pasha called it 'the worst kind of hate speech'. "It is a completely audio-visual propaganda," he said.

However, the court said a film certified by a competent authority cannot be treated similar to a person giving abusive speech from a podium. "There are varieties of hate speeches. This film has got certification and has been cleared by the board. It's not like a person getting on the podium and starts giving uncontrolled speech. If you want to challenge the release of the movie, you should challenge the certification and through appropriate forum," the bench said.

Justice Nagarathna also dismissed the advocate's claim that there was no time to approach the High Court as the movie's theatrical release is scheduled for Friday. "

This is not a ground. Otherwise everyone will start coming to the Supreme Court," the bench responded.

(With PTI inputs.)