KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 — Malaysia’s Court of Appeal has upheld the government’s ban on the controversial film Mentega Terbang, ruling that the home minister’s power to prohibit films in the public interest is constitutional and may be exercised before any public disorder occurs.

A three-member bench comprising Justices Datuk Ismail Brahim, Datuk Ong Chee Kwan and Datuk Ahmad Shahrir Salleh unanimously dismissed an appeal by the film’s director, Khairi Anwar Jailani, and producer, Tan Meng Kheng, affirming the High Court’s dismissal of their judicial review application, Free Malaysia Today (FMT) reported.

Delivering the court’s broad grounds, Justice Ong rejected the appellants’ argument that Section 26 of the Film Censorship Act, which empowers the home minister to prohibit a film in the “public interest”, is unconstitutional.

Khairi and Tan had argued that the provision confers overly broad powers that infringe the right to freedom of speech guaranteed under Article 10 of the Federal Constitution.

Ong said the provision must be interpreted in light of the Constitution and Parliament’s intention in enacting the law.

“Its operation is confined to the constitutionally permissible grounds under Article 10,” Ong said, adding that the phrase “public interest” is limited to matters involving national security, public order and morality.

The court also rejected the appellants’ claim that the prohibition order was irrational, stressing that judicial review concerns the legality of the minister’s decision-making process rather than whether the court itself would have reached the same conclusion.

Ong said there was sufficient objective material before the minister to justify the decision, including assessments by the Film Censorship Board, the Islamic Development Department (Jakim), the Special Branch, police reports, opinions from Islamic authorities and the minister’s own viewing of the film.

The bench also dismissed the argument that the authorities should have waited for evidence of public disorder before issuing the prohibition order.

Khairi and Tan argued that Mentega Terbang had been publicly available on a streaming platform for several months before the ban without triggering any public disorder.

However, Ong said Section 26 of the Act is preventive in nature and does not require the authorities to wait until public disorder has occurred before acting.

The absence of disorder during the monitoring period did not eliminate the risk that unrestricted exhibition could undermine public order, he added.

The bench further held that Khairi and Tan were not entitled to be heard before the prohibition order was issued because the order was legislative in nature, applying generally to the public rather than targeting them personally.

Consequently, the common law rules of natural justice requiring a prior hearing did not apply.

Khairi and Tan filed the judicial review in December 2023, arguing that the ban was irrational, violated their constitutional right to freedom of expression and adversely affected their livelihood by preventing the film from being screened or distributed in Malaysia.

The High Court dismissed the application in September 2025.

The Home Ministry issued the Film Censorship (Prohibition) Order 2023 on Aug 21, 2023, banning the screening and publicity of Mentega Terbang, which had previously been available on a streaming platform.

The film sparked controversy over scenes said to depict conflicting religious beliefs and themes.

Counsel N. Surendran, who represented Khairi and Tan, said he had instructions to appeal the Court of Appeal’s decision to the Federal Court.

Senior federal counsel Sallehuddin Ali appeared for the home minister and the government.