A plea has been filed before the Kerala High Court by the father of the accused in the Venjaramoodu mass murder case, challenging the theatrical release of the Malayalam film 'Kaalam Paranja Kadha', which is stated to be inspired by the crime.

The case pertains to the alleged murder of five relatives of Afan and the attempted murder of his mother. Afan is the sole accused in the case, which is pending before the Principal Sessions Court, Thiruvananthapuram.

According to the plea, the storyline of the film is directly inspired by the case, the trial of which is yet to be concluded. It further states that following the announcement of the movie, several social media posts surfaced portraying the accused as guilty and casting aspersions on his family.

The petitioner contended that releasing the movie while the trial is pending would result in a media trial and seriously prejudice his son's right to a fair trial. The plea said the release would influence witnesses and the public at large, cause irreversible damage to the reputation and dignity of the petitioner and his family, and that such injury cannot be undone even if the accused is ultimately acquitted.

The petitioner has also sought a John Doe injunction to restrain all persons from releasing or publishing any content based on the case until the conclusion of the trial. The injunction is sought against media platforms, OTT platforms, social media intermediaries, digital content creators and others from making available any movie, documentary, web series or audio-visual content that directly or indirectly depicts or is inspired by the case.

He has further sought to restrain the makers of the film, their agents and others from releasing promotional materials, trailers or teasers of the movie pending disposal of the plea.

The plea was moved through advocates Sajju V and Ajmal A.
(With LiveLaw inputs)