Worst kind of hate speech: Supreme Court refuses to stay “The Kerala Story” movie release

Today, the Supreme Court of India was hearing the plea against the release of the movie, The Kerala Story, an upcoming movie on religious conversions, alleging that it is a ‘worst kind of hate speech’. The plea was mentioned before the Supreme Court bench comprising Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice KM Joseph by Advocate Nizam Pasha for urgent listing today. The same bench was hearing other cases related to hate speech. While hearing the matter, Justice Joseph said that the current case involved the certification of a movie by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), a statutory authority; therefore, the matter cannot be filed as an interim application in the already pending cases. The bench further stated that “We cannot tag it. Why don’t you move the concerned High Court first. See a board has certified it through a process.” Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal further said that “Lordships may just look at the transcript during the recess. Trailer has already has 16 million views. By tomorrow we will file a substantial petition.”

During the proceedings, Advocate Pasha argued, “This movie is the worst kind of hate speech. It is a completely audio-visual propaganda.” The Supreme Court further stated that “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.” Advocate Pasha further claimed that there was no time to approach High Court first as movie is scheduled to release on Friday 5 May 2023. The bench replied, “This is not a ground. Otherwise, everyone will start coming to the Supreme Court.” It further refused to entertain a plea seeking stay on movie release. The Kerala Story, Hindi movie, is based on a group of women from Kerala who join the ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). 

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