Kerala High Court clears release of The Kerala Story 2, stays single judge order

In a significant development for the makers of The Kerala Story 2, a division bench of the Kerala High Court on Friday lifted the interim stay on the film’s release. The bench comprising Justices SA Dharmadhikari and PV Balakrishnan stayed the earlier order of a single judge that had put the film’s release on hold for 15 days.

The order came in writ appeals filed by producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah challenging the single judge’s decision. The earlier interim order had also directed that a revision petition be considered by the Chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification within two weeks. A detailed copy of the division bench’s order is awaited.

The division bench conducted an urgent hearing late on Thursday evening, shortly after the single judge’s ruling. Senior advocates appearing for the producer argued that filmmakers have the right to depict social issues and that courts have previously refrained from interfering in similar matters. Counsel for the petitioners who challenged the film’s certification presented their objections during the hearing, after which the court reserved and later delivered its verdict.

The film, directed by Kamakhya Narayan Singh and written by Amarnath Jha and Vipul Amrutlal Shah, is scheduled for release on February 27. The sequel stars Ulka Gupta, Aditi Bhatia and Aishwarya Ojha. The trailer has drawn polarised reactions, with the makers maintaining before the court that the film addresses a social evil and does not target any state or religious community.