Sindh court gives censors 10 days to review Ghost School certification — Dawn
The High Court of Sindh province in Pakistan has ordered the Sindh Board of Film Censors to reconsider within 10 days the certification of the film Ghost School for screening in the province. A two-judge bench also set aside the board’s previous decision to remove certain expressions and scenes from the film, Dawn reports.
Lawsuit by the filmmakers
British-Pakistani director Simab Gul and one of the associate producers, Muhammad Yusuf Rehman, filed the petition with the court. Their representatives said the film is a fictional story about a 10-year-old girl who learns that the only school in her village is being closed because of rumours that it is haunted.
According to the petitioners, the Sindh Board of Film Censors demanded eight cuts to grant the film a universal U certificate. At the same time, the Central Board of Film Censors and the Punjab Board of Film Censors allowed the film to be shown without restrictions and without cuts, while the Sindh body refused certification.
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Court requirements
In August, the court had already ordered the board to reconsider the matter in accordance with the law and provide the applicants with a meaningful opportunity to be heard. In the Sindh Board of Film Censors’ decision, which was communicated to the petitioners on September 11, they were required to remove several words and expressions, an offensive remark by a child, as well as scenes involving the burning of books and the school in the final part of the film.
The court noted that the board had not provided clear and convincing grounds for such requirements. The bench stated that, in the absence of justification, all cuts except the one concerning the child’s offensive remark could not remain in force. Following reconsideration, the board must either issue a certificate for unrestricted public screening without additional cuts or, if it considers that certain cuts require assigning the film a category higher than U, hold an in-person hearing with the petitioners and provide separate reasoning for each objection.
