LAHORE  -  The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday ordered the de-sealing of ten commercial theatres of Lahore division.

The court ordered to de-seal the­atres including Naz theatre, Mahfil theatre, Sitara theatre, Virsa theatre, Sangam theatre, Gulistan theatre, Ravi theatre and Nagina theatre.

The court also ordered rele­vant authorities to decide the ap­plication of theatre owners within 7 days, while observing that the­atres should be opened till decision of relevant authorities and if there were any complaints against them, then action should be taken in ac­cordance with the law.

Justice Raheel Kamran passed the orders on a petition filed by theatre owners challenging the closure of theatres by the provin­cial government.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Punjab government had sealed the theatres over violation of the Drama Act, in the last week of August. The government had initiated a crackdown against ‘vul­garity’ in commercial theatres and sealed them over hosting unethical dances.

Meanwhile, the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday ordered chief sec­retary Punjab to decide a petition, seeking formation of a judicial com­mission to probe the Jaranwala inci­dent, within 15 days.

Justice Muhammad Sajid Mehmood Sethi passed the orders during the hearing of a petition filed by an orga­nization, Christians’ True Spirit, af­ter a law officer informed that no ju­dicial commission had been formed to probe the incident yet.

The petitioner-organization had submitted that the current process for the investigation of the Jaran­wala tragedy was slow. It request­ed the court to issue directions for the formation of a judicial commis­sion to ensure fair investigation and timely justice.