Kerala High Court on Thursday dismissed a plea seeking removal of Malayalam film Churuli from OTT platform Sony LIV, saying the intention behind filing of the petition was “only publicity”.

Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan said if courts start to interfere with exhibition of films merely because some dialogues are obscene, “there will be no end to it”.

“A film is an exhibition of a story by the filmmaker. He is entitled to use his artistic freedom. There is no compulsion to view this film by each and every citizen of this country.

“Moreover, the film in question was uploaded to OTT platforms. On OTT platforms, viewing is restricted to the subscribers of the 2nd respondent (Sony LIV). In such circumstances, this court can not direct the 2nd respondent to remove the movie from the OTT platform,” the high court said.

The court further said the petitioner, lawyer Peggy Fen, had sought vague reliefs and not mentioned the relevant rules applicable to movies on OTT platforms.

“…The intention of the petitioner is only publicity,” Justice Kunhikrishnan said.