SHC orders Sindh censor board to reconsider ban on ‘Ghost School’

The Sindh High Court (SHC) constitutional bench on Friday directed the Sindh Board of Film Censors (SBFC) to hear all concerned parties afresh and decide within two weeks on a filmmakers’ plea seeking permission to screen Ghost School in Sindh, where the film was set and filmed.

The film, which revolves around a 10-year-old girl questioning claims about her supposedly haunted school in a Sindh village, was barred by the SBFC from screening in cinemas across the province on July 9. It had won the Best Director award at the UK Asian Film Festival in May and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival as a nominee.

The direction was issued by a two-member bench comprising Justice Adnanul Karim Memon and Justice Muhammad Jafar Raza during the hearing of a petition filed under Article 199 of the Constitution by the filmmakers of Ghost School, challenging the Sindh censor board’s decision to prevent the film from being screened across the province.

During the hearing, Advocate Mirza Moiz Baig, representing petitioners Seemab Gul and Muhammad Yousuf Rehman, told the court that the film had been approved for screening by the federal government. “The film will be presented on big screens in cantonment areas of Karachi, but has been barred from screening in areas administered by the Sindh government,” he said.

Also Read: Seemab Gul’s award-winning film 'Ghost School' barred from cinemas in Sindh

The court questioned the censor board secretary about the reasons for withholding permission to screen the film.

Taking a jibe at the censor board, the court asked whether Ghost School contained actual “ghosts” that had prevented its screening.

In response, Sindh Board of Film Censors Secretary Adil Ahmed said he could not disclose the details before the court because the decision to censor the film had been taken by the board.

Justice Adnanul Karim Memon reprimanded the secretary, saying, “You cannot hide things from the court.”

He added that all parties appearing before the court were required to assist it and disclose the necessary information. “If you hide the reasons [for censorship], we will allow the petition,” the judge warned.

The secretary maintained that he was not concealing anything and requested time to submit the board’s response.

Filmmakers challenge censorship decision

Advocate Baig contended that the Central Board of Film Censors and the Punjab Film Censor Board had already granted permission for the film’s screening, while the SBFC had refused to approve its release in Sindh. He submitted that under the Sindh Motion Pictures Act, 2011, a censor certificate could only be refused on specific grounds provided under the law.

In an application before the court, the petitioners submitted, “The Impugned Decision is irreconcilable with Section 6(1) of the Sindh Motion Pictures Act, 2011 which provides that a film’s certificate for exhibition may only be refused where it is ‘prejudicial to the glory of Islam or the integrity, security or defence of Pakistan or any part thereof, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality or amounts to the commission of, or incitement to, an offence.’”

The application further stated that the grounds for refusal under Section 6 mirrored the restrictions on freedom of speech set out in Article 19 of the Constitution. “The Sindh censor board’s decision [on Ghost School] does not fall within any of the grounds prescribed by law,” he argued.

Baig further argued that the filmmakers had neither been issued a show-cause notice nor given an opportunity to present their position before the board decided on the film’s screening.

The SHC subsequently directed the SBFC to hear all concerned parties on the filmmakers’ review petition and decide the matter within two weeks.