SHC seeks comments regarding ban on ‘Maalik’
KARACHI: The federal information ministry and the Central Board of Film Censors (CBFC) have been given two weeks to explain why Ashir Azeem’s movie, Maalik, has been banned from screening all over the country.
A division bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC), headed by Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, granted on Tuesday two weeks’ time to the authorities for filing their replies in this regard on a request made by the deputy attorney-general.
The writer and director, Azeem, had taken the federal information ministry and the federal and provincial boards of films censors to the court for banning his movie across the country.
In his petition filed last week, the director said the story and script of the film had no controversial content. He said the film is not directed towards any group or the workings of the government and was made with the intention of highlighting the political and social issues of Pakistan.
The judges were also told that the movie did not have any scene, which would, or could, tarnish the image of the country. “Only a negative political system has been highlighted [in the story] as well as other social issues in our society,” said Azeem. He added that a disclaimer, before the film starts, clearly states that all the characters or events are fictitious, and any resemblance to any person or event living or dead is purely coincidental.
On April 29, the SHC bench had issued notices to the federal information ministry, the CBFC and others to file their comments, explaining the ban on the movie.
When the judges took up the matter on Tuesday, the deputy attorney-general (DAG) said he had received the court’s notice on Monday and requested for time to enable him to call comments from the federal authorities concerned.
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