LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday directed the provincial secretary for information and culture to hear the point of view of petitioners and producer of Joyland film and decide the matter relating to a ban on the exhibition of the movie within a fortnight.

The court hearing the petitions of citizens and the producer expressed displeasure over the inaction of the Punjab government about an interim order through which the Punjab Censor Board’s certificate granted for screening of the film “Joyland” in the province was suspended.

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The court questioned as to why the interim order was still in operation and the petitioners including the producers and the distributors of the film were not heard.

The petitioner through their counsel contended that fundamental rights of the petitioners were at stake, particularly, the freedom of expression and speech, and right to trade and business. He said the impugned decision of the government did not even fulfill legal requirements to constitute a valid executive action. The requirements mainly include an inquiry and an approval nod by the provincial cabinet, he said.

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He, therefore, asked the court to hold accountability of the provincial government for taking such arbitrary and illegal actions.

The film had initially been approved for screening throughout Pakistan by both the central and provincial film censor boards in August 2022. Later owing to pressure from some quarters the film was banned nationwide.

A censor board review committee lifted the ban subsequently. However, the Punjab government banned the release of the film in the province.

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Copyright Business Recorder, 2022