The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday while hearing on a petition seeking ban on movie Bol directed the District Coordination Officer (DCO) Lahore decide on the matter within 15 days and to take action according to law.
Justice Nasir Saeed Sheikh passed the order on a petition filed by Anjuman Tahaffuz Namoos-e-Sadat through Advocate Ali Imran Rizvi seeking a ban on the movie and the cancellation of the no-objection certificate issued by Central Board of Film Censor (CBFC) to show it. The petition claims the movie hurts Muslim sentiments since it contains dialogues aimed at humiliating Islamic values. The petitioner asked the court to ban the screening of the movie before it spreads sectarian violence.
The petitioner claimed the movie mocked religious families, men with beards, the devotees of Data Darbar and mocked symbols central to Islam such as mosques. The court after hearing the parties disposed of the petition referring the matter to the DCO with instructions to look into the matter and submit a report to the court in 15 days. The petitioner claimed that the censor board’s approval of the film Bol went against the basic principles of Islam and mocked Islamic teachings. The petitioner also claimed the e film aims to start sectarian strife.
The petitioner said that he had moved an application with the federal secretary information ministry to cancelling the certificate issued to Bol by CBFC. However, he had received no response. The petitioner further said that he had moved another application to the District Coordination Officer Lahore to ban the exhibition of the film but had been shunned again. He asked the court to issue directions for to cancel of the exhibition certificate issued to the film.
He asked the court to issue directions to register criminal cases against the writer, director and others involved in the movie. The court disposed the petition, ordering the DCO to take a decision on the application within 15 days.
