The Kerala High Court on Thursday (March 5, 2026) declined to entertain a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed earlier this week to remove the word “Kerala” from the title of the Hindi film The Kerala Story 2-Goes Beyond.
A bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syama Kumar VM orally observed that it would not be proper for the court to take up the plea as a writ petition and an appeal relating to the matter are already pending before the court. Besides, the division bench passed an order allowing the release of the film, saying that the court cannot rule on an order already passed by the coordination committee.
Noting that the judgment could be criticized, the court warned the petitioners against attempting to insult the court as an institution. Subsequently, the petitioners apologized unconditionally for including the submission in the PIL.
The petitioners, a retired social studies teacher and a lawyer, also said in their plea that the filmmakers had challenged the recent Single Bench order in the bench, which issued a preliminary stay on the film’s release, allegedly even before the temporary stay order was recorded. In a PIL filed on Tuesday, they argued that apart from showing Kerala in a bad light by portraying it as a center of forced conversions, the film could incite hatred against members of the Muslim community in the state.
The petitioners further demanded that the Center and the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) allow the screening of the film stating that it was based on a purely fictional subject. They also sought to direct the Center and the CBFC to frame guidelines to ensure that film titles and captions do not defame any state, region, caste or religion.
Published – 05 March 2026 20:10 IST
