KUALA LUMPUR: The director and producer of controversial movie Mentega Terbang can initiate a judicial review over the movie’s ban, the High Court has ruled.
Justice Amarjeet Singh granted leave in the judicial review application filed by movie director Mohd Khairianwar Jailani and producer Tan Meng Kheng here yesterday.
In their application, Mohd Khairianwar and Tan claimed the ban was irrational as it violates the freedom of speech as stipulated under the Federal Constitution.
They claimed their income had been affected as they could not screen or distribute the film in this country.
They sought an order to set aside the ban and to declare the Film Censorship Act as unconstitutional.
Earlier, Federal Counsel Mohammad Sallehuddin Md Ali objected for leave to be granted on grounds that the Home Ministry’s decision to ban the movie was non-justiciable.
Lawyer Zaid Malek, who represented Mohd Khairianwar and Tan, argued that the ban could be challenged in court if there was an extraordinary circumstance.
The court fixed Feb 14 for case management while a date for the hearing of the judicial review application will be fixed later.
On Jan 17, Mohd Khairianwar and Tan were charged with deliberately hurting religious sentiments by words and visuals.
The offence was allegedly committed at a premises in Jalan Semarak Api 2 on Feb 26.
