Kochi, February 27 Despite a stay on the release of the film, the booking of tickets for 'The Kerala Story 2-Goes Beyond' was still ongoing, the single-judge bench of the Kerala High Court was informed on Friday, even as the matter was being heard by a division bench.
The submission regarding the sale of tickets was made before Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas on behalf of the petitioners – Sreedev Namboodiri and Freddy Francis – on whose petitions the court had stayed the release of the film for 15 days on Thursday.
They told the court that the film producer had filed an appeal before a division bench against the stay on Thursday night, but no interim order was issued paving the way for the release of the film, and only a judgment was reserved.
However, on Friday morning, booking of tickets for the movie was possible, and therefore, there was a possibility that the film might be screened in theaters during the day, despite the interim stay on its release, the lawyers said.
They said they would verify whether the film was being screened in theaters during the day and, accordingly, would file a contempt plea.
Justice Thomas had stayed the release of the film for 15 days, saying that prima facie, the censor board, CBFC, had manifestly failed to apply its mind to the requirements of law.
The judge also said that "the possibility of communal disharmony or denigration of a community also being prima facie involved in the movie", its release without scrutiny by the higher authorities would be legally improper.
The court had further said that the content of the film's teaser has "a prima facie potential to distort public perception and disturb communal harmony."
Later that night, the producer – Vipul Amrutlal Shah – filed an appeal before a division bench of justices Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and P V Balakrishnan, which reserved its order after hearing extensive arguments from all stakeholders.
However, the bench did not issue any interim direction staying the single judge's decision.