The Kerala High Court described PIL as “a publicity interest litigation” and not a public interest litigation as it is known.
The PIL sought the removal of a Malayalam mystery-horror film Churuli from the OTT platform and said that no statutory provision appeared to have been violated by a screening of the movie.
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With the observations, Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan reserved the judgement on the matter.
Additional Advocate-General Grashious Kuriakose, appearing for the Censor Board, said that the movie, directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery, was cleared for public viewing with an ‘A’ certification and related warnings.
The court was hearing the petition moved by a lawyer Peggy Fen, who said that there was usage of foul language in the film and that it should be removed from the OTT platform.
Earlier, the court termed “atrocious” the language used in the film, which was released via OTT platform on November 19.
The petition said that there were filthy words in the film that could be offensive particularly to women and children.
The petition contended that the movie did not adhere to the censor board rules and regulations and did not display any statutory warning when showing characters using alcohol or smoking, which is mandatory.
(With inputs from Agencies)