The Kerala High Court on Thursday declined to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) that sought a change in the title of the film The Kerala Story 2 – Goes Beyond. The court also criticised the petitioners for including remarks in the plea that cast aspersions on a division bench that had earlier allowed the film’s release.
The PIL had been filed by retired teacher and social activist Chandramohanan K C and lawyer Mehnaz P Mohammed. The petition challenged the title of the film and sought directions to modify it.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V M said it would not be appropriate to take up the matter since related petitions concerning the film were already pending before a single-judge bench and a division bench of the court. The court observed that the division bench hearing the appeal in the case should deal with the issue if required.
Bench questions remarks made in the petition
During the hearing, the bench took strong exception to certain statements made in the PIL regarding the earlier court order.
According to the court, the language used in the petition raised concerns as it appeared to question the division bench that had paved the way for the film’s release.
The PIL was filed through advocate Chelson Chembarathy. When the court pointed out the problematic remarks, the bench criticised both the petitioners and their counsel for including such content in the plea. Chembarathy apologised unconditionally before the court several times following the bench’s observations. The court then disposed of the PIL while allowing the petitioners to file a fresh plea after removing the portions that cast aspersions on the earlier bench.
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Earlier order had cleared path for film’s release
The development follows an interim order passed on February 27 by a division bench comprising Justices Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and P V Balakrishnan.
That bench had stayed a single-judge order that had earlier halted the screening of the film for 15 days. The stay order effectively allowed the film’s release after the producers challenged the restriction in court. The appeal before the division bench had been filed by the film’s producer, Vipul Amrutlal Shah.
