Kerala High Court on Friday lifted the interim stay imposed on the release Kerala Story 2 – Moves OnThe path was cleared for the film’s theatrical rollout. A division bench of Justice SA Dharmadhikari and Justice PV Balakrishnan set aside the order passed a day earlier by single-judge Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas, which had stayed the release of the film for 15 days and directed the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to investigate the representations made against it.
Kerala HC Division Bench lifts stay on The Kerala Story 2: Goes Beyond
Justice Thomas had issued the interim stay at 3 pm on Thursday while hearing two petitions challenging the film. He observed that prima facie, there was a lack of discretion by the CBFC while granting the certification and asked the Board to consider the review petitions within two weeks. The order barred producers from releasing films during this period.
Later that evening, at 7.30 pm, the division bench called an urgent special meeting to hear the appeal filed by the film’s producers. After a hearing that lasted for more than two hours, the division bench reserved its decision and gave its verdict lifting the stay at 4 pm on Friday evening.
The petitions before the single judge had argued that the sequel misrepresented Kerala and had the potential to incite communal disharmony. A petition filed by Kannur resident Srideva Namboodiri has objected to the title, teaser and trailer of the film, alleging that certain themes and dialogues could incite violence and unfairly tarnish the state. He particularly singled out the closing line of the teaser – “Ab sahenge nahi… ladenge” – arguing that it was a call for confrontation.
Another petition by Freddy V Francis sought to ban the film and challenged the use of the word “Kerala” in the title, arguing that it falsely associated the state with terrorism and forced religious conversion despite featuring characters from several states. The petitioner described the film as “hate marketing” and questioned its claim of being based on true events.
In his interim order, Justice Thomas said that although courts are generally reluctant to interfere with film releases, judicial intervention becomes necessary where the alleged content has a real potential to disturb communal harmony.
Challenging the stay, the producers moved the division bench and insisted that the film was scheduled for international release on Friday. Senior advocates Neeraj Kishan Kaul and Alvin Peter, appearing for the manufacturers, argued that the petitioners did not have locus standi to maintain the regular writ petition as their complaints were in the nature of a PIL.
He further stated that the CBFC maintains a strong presumption of certification regularity, that the film contains a prominent disclaimer, and that its narrative spans multiple states rather than focusing only on Kerala. The lawyer also argued that prohibiting the release of a certified film before screening is the most extreme form of censorship, and judicial precedents warn against such pre-release restrictions on free speech.
With the interim stay lifted by the Division Bench, the film is now all set to proceed with its release as per schedule.
