New Delhi: Lahore High Court on Thursday banned Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan starrer 'Phantom' after a petition was filed by Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed stating that the movie was a propaganda against him and his group.
Lahore High Court judge Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan issued the order to ban the release of the film in theatres across Pakistan after hearing the arguments of Saeed's counsel and the government law officer.
Issuing a short-order on the film, which was scheduled to release on August 28, the judge observed that Indian and other movies are easily available after their release and asked the government what it could do to stop it from being available in the market if a movie is banned. "If a movie is banned in cinemas what the government could do to stop it from being available in the market in CDs," the judge asked.
In the petition filed in the High Court on August 8, Saeed's advocate AK Dogar alleged that "there is a direct threat to the life of the petitioner (Saeed) and his associates emanating from the content of the trailer of the film".
"It is obvious that dialogues coming out of the lips of the different Indian actors and actresses will poison the minds of Pakistani public and will portray Hafiz Saeed as terrorist even though JuD has not been declared as a proscribed organisation," Dogar said.
Meanwhile, director of the film Kabir Khan said he was amused that somebody like Hafiz Saeed is going to the court and saying that film-makers are spreading venom when his entire politics stands on spreading hate.
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