Staff Report
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday directed the Punjab Secretary of Information and Culture to decide on an application against the ban on the screening of the film Joyland within 15 days after offering an opportunity of hearing to the producers of the film.
The court ordered the secretary to hear the producers’ stance on December 28 and pass a speaking order over the ban.
Justice Muzammil Akhtar Shabir passed the directives while disposing of the petition against the ban on the screening of the film Joyland.
During the court proceedings, a law officer on behalf of the Punjab government appeared and sought time to submit a response.
At this, the court expressed severe displeasure over the inaction of the Punjab government concerning the interim order through which the govt had suspended the certificate of the Punjab Censor Board for screening of the film in Punjab.
Ban on film Joyland
The court remarked that the petitioners had moved an application against the orders to the department concerned, but the same had yet to be decided. The court questioned why the interim order was still in operation and the government had still not heard the film’s petitioners, producers, and distributors aggrieved by the decision.
Petitioner’s Counsel Advocate, Usama Khawar Ghumman, apprised the court of the fundamental rights of the petitioners at stake, particularly the Freedom of Expression and Speech and the Right to Business, and Trade, at stake.
Subsequently, the court disposed of the petition and ordered the Punjab secretary of Information and Culture to decide the application of film producers against the ban on film screening within 15 days after affording an opportunity of hearing to the petitioners on December 28 and passing a speaking order.
The co-producer, distributor, and assistant director of the film later November had moved the petition challenging the ban imposed upon the movie by the Information and Culture Department.
The film was initially approved for screening throughout Pakistan by the central and provincial film censor boards in August 2022. The Punjab government banned the release of the movie in Punjab on the grounds of ‘receiving complaints,’ after which the producers and the production house approached the LHC.
