West Bengal ban on 'The Kerala Story': SC agrees to hear plea by producers on May 12

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear on May 12 a plea by the producers of controversial multilingual film 'The Kerala Story' against the ban on screening of the film by the West Bengal government.

Senior advocate Harish Salve mentioned the matter for urgent listing before a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha.

Salve said the petition challenges the ban by the West Bengal government and the "de-facto" ban in Tamil Nadu.

The bench said it had on Tuesday posted for May 15 a separate plea against the Kerala High Court order refusing to stay the release of the movie and the fresh plea would also be heard on that day.

However, the bench agreed to list the plea for hearing on May 12 after Salve said, "We are losing money everyday." 'The Kerala Story' starring Adah Sharma was released in cinemas on May 5.