Screening ban: LHC seeks reply from fed govt

Through a notification on April 27, the Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and Heritage had banned the film

LAHORE: Justice Shams Mehmood Mirza of Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday sought reply from federal government till June 3 on an application seeking action against the Punjab government for imposing a ban on the screening of the film Maalik. Advocate Munir Ahmad filed the application in his already pending constitutional petition challenging the ban on exhibition of this film. The counsel said that the Punjab Censor Board had issued a certificate for screening the movie. “However, the government is now pressuring it to withdraw the certificate,” he said. He said that during hearing of main petition, the government counsel had misled the court. He requested the court to issue directions to the officials concerned to allow the film to be screened. Through a notification on April 27, the Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and Heritage had banned the exhibition of the film.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 31^st, 2016.