KARACHI: Police informed a sessions court on Tuesday that a criminal case against the director, producer and actors of the Bollywood film Dhurandhar for defaming the PPP was legally not possible.
In response to an application filed by PPP worker Mohammad Amir seeking a First Information Report (FIR) against the director, the producer, and other crew members of Dhurandhar, SHO Darakhshan stated that, during the course of an inquiry, police found that all the proposed accused are Indian nationals and have no residential, business, or legal presence in Pakistan.
“The impugned film was produced, filmed and released in India, and all alleged acts took place outside the territorial jurisdiction of Pakistan. No material or evidence has surfaced to suggest screening, circulation, or availability of the said film within Pakistan,” he added.
The SHO stated in the report that the applicant also failed to disclose the commission of any cognisable offence within the territorial jurisdiction of the Darakhshan police station or in Pakistan at large.
“In absence of territorial jurisdiction and essential legal ingredients, registration of an FIR is neither warranted nor permissible under law,” the police maintained.
The report added that police had made multiple efforts to contact the applicant, but he did not appear before the police for verification of his allegations, despite being provided sufficient opportunity.
Submitting their opinion, the police report suggested that the application was devoid of merit, did not call for the registration of an FIR, and was liable to be dismissed.
The applicant moved the court after the police refused to register an FIR, maintaining that the PPP was portrayed as sympathetic to terrorists in the movie trailer and that Lyari was labelled a “terrorist war zone.” He claimed this was a provocative, misleading, and harmful misrepresentation that damaged the reputation of the country and its people.
He further stated that he had viewed the official trailer and promotional material of the film on social media platforms, saying that images of Benazir Bhutto, along with PPP’s flag and rally visuals, were used in the movie without legal permission.
