PESHAWAR, Sept 13: The Peshawar senior civil judge on Tuesday stayed the screening of a Pashto film in a local cinema following a dispute over inclusion of a Pashto song in the film without permission of the singer.

The court presided over by Mr Ahsanullah Mehsud issued notice to the director of the film, Naseem Khan, producer Nadir Khan and manager of a local cinema, Fayyaz Khan. The court fixed Sept 28 for next hearing.

A civil suit has been filed by a Pashto singer, Irfan Khan, stating that the inclusion of his song “Pekhawar kho Pekhawar De” in the film “Pekhaware Mardanae” was illegal and violation of the Copyrights Ordinance, 1962.

He stated that the song was pictured on actor Arbaz Khan without his permission. The song became popular during last couple of months and its audio and video discs have been selling in Peshawar and other part of the province.

The plaintiff has sought damages to the tune of Rs one million on account of exploiting his musical work by the three defendants. The plaintiff has also requested the court to permanently restrain the defendants from screening the movie.