Judicial tempers flared in Kochi as Kerala High Court justices castigated PIL movers for besmirching fellow judges over the contentious film ‘The Kerala Story 2: Goz Beyond’. Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice V.M. Shyam Kumar underscored that such barbs strike at the judiciary’s core, flirting with contempt charges.
Petitioners K.C. Chandramohan, a retired educator and activist, and attorney Mehnaz P. Mohammad aimed to halt the film’s run, branding it a smear campaign against Kerala—falsely pegging it as extremism’s cradle sans substantiation. Over 150 Muslim figures, they argued, are cast in bigoted molds, distorting everyday realities and offending via the provocative title, infringing Article 21 rights.
The saga unfolded February 26 with a single bench’s interim injunction. An immediate appeal saw Justices S.A. Dharmadhikari and P.V. Balakrishnan dissolve it next day, ushering the film to cinemas pending final adjudication. The PIL’s gripe over the appeal’s alacrity—minus the order’s online presence—provoked the retort: incomplete facts don’t justify judge-bashing.
‘Challenge in Supreme Court if aggrieved, but honor the bench,’ the court directed. Unconditional regrets followed from counsel, with promises to sanitize the petition. In the broader canvas of India’s content battles, this affirms courts’ zero-tolerance for intra-judiciary snipes, prioritizing institutional sanctity while films like this sequel stir cultural cauldrons.