Kerala High Court Refrains From Passing Orders Against Airing Of 'The Kerala Story' Movie On Doordarshan

The petitioner alleges that airing a propaganda movie would propagate religious terrorism and polarize voters during election time. The petitioner has also submitted emails to the Election Commission of India, Director General, Doordarshan and Director General, Prasar Bharati to prevent airing the movie today since it would be against the election rules and Model Code of Conduct.

Justice T R Ravi declined to pass any orders since the petitioner had only emailed representations to the Election Commission of India, Director General, Doordarshan and Director General, Prasar Bharati to prohibit airing the movie on April 04, 2024. The Court stated that the authorities should have been given time to decide on the grievances alleged by the petitioner. 

The plea alleged that airing 'The Kerala Story' on a Government of India-owned channel is an attempt by the political party in power to create bias in the minds of voters and is against the Model Code of Conduct.

“The political party has used a State-owned machinery to campaign their ideologies through this nation-owned media only to polarize the votes of the citizens to the party who has propagated this show to be aired on Doordarshan which is against the code of conduct as well as rules of elections”, stated the plea.

The petitioner stated that he had sent an email dated April 04 to the Election Commission of India alleging violation of election rules by airing 'The Kerala Story' on Doordarshan.

“At the time of General Elections 2024 in India such a hate campaign being pushed by the mainstream media that too with the political power of the political party in power as part of their political campaign for votes, biasing citizens of India, is a blatant violation of election rules”, alleged the plea.

It is further alleged that Doordarshan which comes under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting should not be used to propagate election campaigns for a particular political party. The plea alleged that airing the movie was due to the pressure from the political party in power to spread hate campaigns as part of their political campaign and was against the election rules and Model Code of Conduct.

The plea referred to T N Sheshan v Union of India (1996) to state that airing of 'The Kerala Story' violates the right to free and fair elections guaranteed by the Constitution and violates Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India.

The petitioner had also emailed his grievances on April 4 to the Director General, Doordarshan and Director General, Prasar Bharati on April 04 alleging that airing a propaganda movie based on religion would polarize the voters and show the state in a bad light.

The matter has been posted for next week.

The plea is moved by Advocates S K Adhithyan, Reuben Charly, Shahina Noushad

Case title: K G Suraj v Election Commission of India

Case number: WP (C) No. 14379/2024