Ghost School wins in court: Sindh High Court strikes down most censor cuts, gives board 10 days

The award-winning Pakistani film Ghost School is one step closer to cinemas in Sindh after the Sindh High Court threw out most of the cuts the provincial censor board had demanded.

What the film is about

Ghost School, by filmmaker Seemab Gul, follows a 10-year-old girl who discovers that the only school in her village has shut down amid rumours that it is haunted. It has travelled to international festivals and won praise abroad.

What the censors wanted

The film had already been cleared without any cuts by both the Central Board of Film Censors and the Punjab board. Sindh was the exception.

According to The Express Tribune, the Sindh Board of Film Censors’ letter of September 11 asked for eight items to be removed before it would give the film a U (Universal) certificate. These included words such as “wadera”, “kameene”, “haram khor” and “Buraq”, a child’s abusive remark, and scenes of books being burned and a school on fire.

What the court said

A bench of Justices Yousuf Ali Sayeed and Adnan Iqbal Chaudhry set aside most of those cuts:

• The court said the board had not explained how the material broke the law, noting that “the power to excise is not unbounded”.
• 24 News HD reports the court found the board’s decision was not in line with Article 19 of the Constitution, which protects freedom of expression.
• Only one cut stays: the child’s inappropriate remark in a school scene, which the filmmakers had already agreed to remove.
• The board must now reconsider within 10 days of that change. It can clear the film for everyone, or, if it wants a stricter age rating, it must give the filmmakers a personal hearing and a written, reasoned decision.
• It must choose the least restrictive rating that addresses its concerns.

The court also rejected the argument that the filmmakers should have gone to an appeals committee first, pointing out that such a committee had never actually been set up.

Why it matters

Pakistan has three separate censor boards, and films often get different verdicts in different provinces. This ruling sets a useful marker: censors must give reasons, cannot cut freely, and should prefer age ratings over chopping scenes.

For Karachi audiences, it means Ghost School could finally reach local cinemas soon. We will update this story when the board gives its decision.