'Kelor Kirti' gets SC clearance

The Supreme Court yesterday cleared the way for releasing Indian Bangla cinema “Kelor Kirti” in Bangladesh.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court stayed a High Court order that had imposed restriction on screening of the comedy movie in the country.

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A four-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha passed the order following a petition filed by Aradhona Enterprise, the importer of the movie, seeking stay on the HC order.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told The Daily Star that there is no legal bar for showing the Indian movie Kelor Kirti in Bangladesh following the SC order.

He also said Bangladesh and India can export and import goods through mutual exchange under the South Asian Free Trade Area (Safta) agreement.

The HC order that imposed restriction on screening of the movie Kelor Kirti is a violation of relevant provision of the Safta agreement, the attorney general said.

Aradhona Enterprise was set to release Kelor Kirti on July 22 at movie theatres in Bangladesh.

Following a writ petition filed by Sharif Hossain, producer of SF Films, the HC on July 19 stayed the process for releasing the film in Bangladesh.

The writ petitioner in the petition argued that under the relevant rules of the commerce ministry, equal numbers of Bangladeshi movies have to be exported and screened in India for an Indian movie to be released in Bangladesh.

Under the rules, an Indian film can be displayed in Bangladesh only after a film from Bangladesh has been released in India. However, these rules were not being followed for the release of Kelor Kirti in Bangladesh, the writ petition added.