KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has issued notices to the secretary of culture department and the Sindh Board of Film Censors on a petition filed against blocking the screening of a film titled Ghost School in the province.
A two-judge constitutional bench of the SHC comprising Justice Adnan-ul-Karim Memon and Justice Muhammad Jaffer Raza also put the advocate general of Sindh on notice for Aug 21.
Citing the province of Sindh through secretary of culture, tourism, antiquities & archives department and the Sindh Board of Film Censors through its secretary as respondents, British-Pakistani filmmaker Seemab Gul, along with one of associate producers Muhammad Yousuf Rehman, has petitioned the SHC impugning a decision of the censor board for refusing to grant a censor certificate for screening of the film in Sindh.
Representing the petitioners, Advocate Mirza Moiz Baig argued that Ghost School was a critically acclaimed movie calling attention to the issue of ghost schools and it was written, directed and produced by Ms Gul.
SHC issues notices to Sindh Board of Film Censors, others for refusing to grant censor certificate to award-winning movie
He submitted that the movie has already bagged the best director award for the film at the UK Asian Film Festival and it has debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival where it was nominated in the best film category.
The counsel also argued that the film was also screened at the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah earlier this year and earned critical praise and an honourable mention at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles for its “exceptional social realism and restrained storytelling”.
He further asserted that the Central Board of Film Censors and Punjab Film Censor Board have allowed the film’s public exhibition, but the Sindh Board of Film Censors has blocked the film’s release in the province.
The lawyer maintained that the impugned decision of the Sindh Board of Film Censors was untenable since Section 6 of the Sindh Motion Pictures Act, 2011 only allowed it to refuse a censor certificate in cases where a movie was “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”.
He contended that the impugned decision for refusing to grant a censor certificate for screening of the film in the province, issued on July 9, was not predicated such grounds and therefore, not sustainable.
The counsel for the petitioners also asserted that under the Rule 16(2)(h) of Sindh Censorship of Film Rules, 2014 there was no embargo on the film being released in the province of Sindh while prior to issuance of impugned decision, no show-cause notice was ever given to the petitioners and they were condemned unheard.
After a preliminary hearing, the bench in its order said, “Contentions raised require consideration. Issue notice to the respondents as well as learned Advocate General Sindh for 21.08.2026”.
Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2026
