The ban on political thriller film ‘Maalik’ has been declared illegal by Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday and has been allowed to screen the film in cinemas.
The court has stated that the ban is a violation of Article-19 and 19A.
In June 2015, opposition leader in Punjab Assembly Mian Mehmood-ur-Rasheed challenged the film’s ban in LHC.
The petition adopted a stance that after the approval of the 18th amendment, the federal government has no legal authority to impose a ban on films.
The plea argued that no such scenes have been filmed which can create chaos in the society.
During the hearing, the federal government could not satisfy the judges with their statements in favour of the ban.
The verdict was reserved by Justice Shams Mehmood Mirza on September 19 after both the parties concluded their arguments.
Earlier, Sindh High Court (SHC) on September 6 also declared federal government’s ban on the film illegal and cleared it to be screened again.
Challenging the recent verdict of SHC, the federal government has taken the case in Supreme Court.
The appeal against the verdict of lifting the ban has been filed by Ministry of Law on behalf of the federal government.
Maalik, which had already been playing in cinemas, was declared “uncertified for the whole of Pakistan” by the ministry of information in May.
Previous bans on films have come from provincial censorship boards while the creators are totally clueless as for why the federal government has imposed the ban.
