In a dramatic turnaround, the Kerala High court on Friday stayed its Thursday stay order on the release of the controversial film, The Kerala Story 2: Goes Beyond.
A two-judge bench comprising Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice P.V. Balakrishnan passed the ruling after an urgent hearing of the writ appeals at 7:30 PM on Thursday night, just hours after the first stay order.
This has paved the way for the sequel to The Kerala Story to release on Friday (February 27).
Notably, the writ appeals hearing on Thursday were also followed by a promotion for Justice Dharmadhikari, who will now take charge as the new Chief Justice of the Madras High Court from March 6 onwards.
Why was the film's release stayed earlier?
On Thursday afternoon, a single-judge bench of Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas had stayed the release of the film, arguing that it was evident there was a manifest "non-application of mind" to the requirement of law by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
Justice Thomas's common order had put the film's release on hold for 15 days, saying that due to "the possibility of communal disharmony or denigration of a community also being prima facie involved in the movie", its release without further scrutiny by higher authorities would be legally improper, as per an NDTV report.
Justice Thomas's earlier stay order was taken based on two petitions.
The first petition was filed by a Sreedev Namboodiri, who alleged that the sequel film's title—as well as other promotional material like the trailer and posters—contained themes and dialogues capable of inciting violence and that they unfairly targeted the state of Kerala and its people.
He also pointed out that the line "ab sahenge nahin… ladenge" (we will not tolerate it anymore, but will fight) in the trailer was particularly incendiary.
The second one was filed by a Freddie V. Francis, who sought a ban on the film's release altogether, alleging that although the film had characters from other states, there was a "marketing of hate" behind the use of 'Kerala' in the film's title.