Kerala HC quashes most cuts ordered for film Haal, says CBFC overstepped

The Kerala High Court on Friday set aside the majority of the cuts and modifications ordered by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for the Malayalam film Haal, holding that the Board’s reasoning was “unsustainable” and inconsistent with constitutional values.

Justice VG Arun quashed all excisions except two, ruling that the film must be reassessed and freshly certified once the filmmakers delete only scenes numbered 5 and 6 in the Board’s order.

The court screened Haal in full before issuing the verdict. The film revolves around the relationship between a Muslim boy and a Christian girl who struggle against familial and religious opposition before reconciling their identities and uniting with the support of both communities.

Justice Arun observed that the film’s message — that “love has no religion” and that individuals can retain their beliefs even in interfaith marriages — aligns with the constitutional ideals of equality, liberty and fraternity.

“It is beyond comprehension,” the court said, “how the above theme can be termed as misrepresentation of inter-faith relationships or as portraying legitimate warnings as unfounded or intolerant.”

CBFC’s objections ‘hypersensitive’, says court

The CBFC had earlier refused to grant the film a ‘U’ or ‘UA’ certificate and permitted only an ‘A’ certification with a long list of cuts. These included:

• Scenes showing the Christian girl using Muslim attire,
• Dialogues involving Christian clergy and a bishop-like character,
• Scenes depicting police discrimination,
• References to “Love Jihad”,
• Depictions considered derogatory to cultural organisations,
• And several community-linked dialogues.

The Board had argued that Haal could distort public perception on interfaith issues and disturb communal harmony.

Rejecting this, the court held that the Board had viewed the film from the standpoint of “oversensitive feathers” rather than that of an ordinary prudent viewer, which is the legal standard. The judge reiterated that any restriction on artistic freedom must fall strictly within Article 19(2), and that censorship cannot override foundational constitutional principles such as secularism and fraternity.

Two deletions accepted by filmmakers
The petitioners — the film’s producer and director — informed the court that they would voluntarily remove scenes listed as serial numbers 5 and 6, relating to court proceedings and a “cultural organisation”, which they agreed did not align with the film’s theme.

The court left those two excisions untouched but struck down all others.

The Union Government initially argued that the petitioners should have filed an appeal under Section 5C of the Cinematograph Act. But the court noted that the High Court Registry currently lacks a notified nomenclature to register such appeals, effectively making the appellate remedy unavailable. It therefore took up the case on merits.

The CBFC has been directed to process the revised version of Haal and issue a fresh certificate within two weeks of resubmission.