New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed West Bengal’s May 8 ban on screening of The Kerala Story and told the TMC government that banning a movie just because some found it objectionable amounted to “putting a premium on intolerance”.

“Every film will evoke some level of intolerance in certain sections of the population. That cannot be ground for a government to ban screening of a film,” said the SC.

Bengal’s fears of “possibility of violent clashes between extremist elements” failed to impact the CJI-led bench’s pro-freedom of speech approach in dealing with the petition filed by the filmmaker, who had challenged the state’s ban. “It is the duty of the state to maintain law and order,” it said.

It also directed Tamil Nadu, where theatre owners withdrew the film after police warned of untoward incidents, to provide adequate security to the theatre-going public. However, when the state, as well as Muslim parties, made an issue about certain exaggerated and patently false narratives about conversion of Hindu and Christian women to Islam, the filmmaker volunteered to put an additional disclaimer by the evening of May 20—“There is no authentic data to back up the suggestion that the figure of conversion is 32,000 or any other established figure; the film represents a fictional and dramatized account.”

On the clearance from Central Board of Film Certification to the movie, the top court said it would hear the matter in July.

TMC said that if any issue arises due to the showing of the film, the opposition should not blame the ruling party. It also asserted that the state government’s decision not to allow screening of the film was based on intelligence inputs and the party has nothing to do with it. The opposition welcomed the SC’s order.