LAHORE, Dec 27: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday set at liberty as many as 20 kiln workers detained illegally by kiln owners Sarwar Gondal and Anwar Gondal, when they were produced in the court by a bailiff.

The court issued the order in the hearing of a habeas corpus petition submitted by Azam, also a worker of the kiln in the vicinity of Sadar police station, Gujrat. The court appointed a bailiff who recovered them from a small room adjacent to their workplace. They included five women and children.

The petitioner submitted that the owners of the kiln had stopped paying the workers wages which they had committed under an Agreement. He submitted that the owners paid the workers according to the contract for a few months and later started curtailing their wages. They protested deduction and were intimidated. Last month the owners detained them when they refused to work without wages.

The owners, who were present in the court, submitted that the workers had obtained a substantial amount as advance, which they were not prepared to return. They had started deducting money, which later became a bone of contention.

The court observed that nobody could be deprived of freedom of movement under any pretext as the right to life was enshrined in the Constitution as a fundamental human right. The court directed the owners to move a court of competent jurisdiction for the recovery of their money as coursing the workers for the refund of money was illegal.

CINEMA: Justice Syed Asghar Haider on Wednesday allowed Awan Mahal Cinema of Hafizabad to screen feature films setting aside the order of the DCO who sealed the cinema on grounds that it was showing obscene films.

Malik Gulzar Ahmad, the owner of the cinema, challenged the order of the DCO on grounds that he had sealed the cinema without serving him with a legal notice, which was required under the law for defending his position.

The court observed that every punitive action should follow an opportunity of defence without which no such action would be legal.