Censored movie: LHC disposes of Dirty Girl case

DCO's counsel said only films that were approved by the federal censor board could be released in the Punjab.

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court on Friday disposed of a case after the petitioner withdrew his petition against the ban on the exhibition of Pakistani movie Dirty Girl.

At the previous hearing, the LHC had sought written replies from the government and the Lahore district coordination officer.  The DCO’s counsel had submitted that the petitioner producer Qaiser Sanaullah had sought permission to exhibit the movie from the Sindh Censor Board and could show it there but not in the Punjab. He said only films that were approved by the federal censor board could be released in the Punjab.

The petitioner’s counsel said several cinemas in the Punjab were going to showcase the film after the Sindh High Court gave the permission and no objections had been raised then.  The petitioner submitted that the censor board had allowed the movie to be released on Eidul Fitr. He said that the ban had caused a massive financial loss to the petitioner and had requested the LHC to remove the ban.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 24^th, 2013.