Hearing of petition against 'The Legend of Maula Jatt' to be held on April 25

Case was initially supposed to be heard on June 6

The Lahore High Court (LHC) has issued for the hearing of the petition filed against The Legend of Maula Jatt's screening to be held sooner, reported Express News.

LHC judge Justice Aminuddin considered the petition and Counsel Buzdar Haider stated that the arrangements for the release and publicity for the upcoming film have been completed. The hearing on the petition against the release of The Legend of Maula Jatt will be heard on April 25, instead of June 6, 2019.

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The film Maula Jatt, which released in 1979, not only set new records of success but was also termed as the most successful film of the Pakistani film industry. Although director Bilal Lashari specifically stated that The Legend of Maula Jatt is not a sequel to the original, its release has been challenged though due to an apparent breach of copyright laws.

The Legend of Maula Jutt is slated for release this Eidul Fitr. Fawad Khan will play the role of Maula Jatt while Hamza Ali Abbasi will be seen as Noorinath. These characters were previously played by legendary actors Sultan Rahi and Mustafa Qureshi in the original.

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"Our case is still pending at Lahore High Court," Sarwer Bhatti, producer of Maula Jatt told The Express Tribune. "On April 25, the court will hear the case. The Legend of Maula Jatt's certificate was obtained illegally by Bilal Lashari and my team and I are hoping for the film to be cancelled."

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He continued, "Earlier, Lashari's application for getting the trademark certificate for The Legend of Maula Jatt was refused by the Intellectual Property Organisation (IPO) because Bahoo Films Corporation and I own the rights on Maula Jatt's trademark and we already have a trademark certificate for Maula Jatt issued by the IPO."

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