The Patan High Court has issued an interim order in the petition filed by the Nepal Motion Picture Association against the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC)’s decision to ban screening of Hindi movies.
A joint bench of Patan High Court judges Hari Prasad Paudel and Narayan Prasad Paudel on Tuesday issued the interim order giving continuity to Thursday’s short-term interim order in the petition, according to the court’s spokesperson Mandira Shahi.
Shahi said that the court has ordered KMC to allow screening of all movies, including Hindi, for the time being.
The court had summoned both sides on Tuesday to discuss whether to continue last week’s short-term interim order.
Nepal Motion Picture Association, an umbrella organization of cinema hall operators, had filed a petition at the Patan High Court on Wednesday against the KMC’s decision to ban screening of Hindi movies inside the KMC.
KMC Mayor Balen Shah, City Police, Ministry of Home Affairs, and Ministry of Communication and Information Technology have been made defendants in the petition.
On Thursday, a single bench of Patan High Court Judge Dhir Bahadur Chand had issued a short-term interim order against the KMC’s decision.
Reacting to the interim order the same day, Mayor Shah had called the government and the court Indian slaves.
“I am not going to comply with any law and court as far as the country’s sovereignty and independence is concerned. Their intent becomes clear when film’s writer says Nepal was under India. That the Government of Nepal called this thing a stunt, and the court instructing to allow screening of film means Nepal was under India, and the court and the government are Indian slaves. I am ready to face any punishment for that but the film will not be screened or allowed to be screened,” Shah has posted on Facebook.
Shah had announced a ban on screening of Hindi movies starting last Monday until the dialog “Janaki is the daughter of Bharat” was removed from the movie “Adipurush”. But the movie producer and the Film Censor Board, Nepal have already said that the movie does not contain any such dialog.
