New Delhi, Jun 16 (IANS): The Supreme Court will hear later on Thursday a plea by Punjab-based NGO Human Rights Awareness Association to halt the screening of the film "Udta Punjab" which focuses on the widespread drug menace in the agrarian state.

An apex court vacation bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice L. Nageswara Rao said it would hear the plea at the end of matters listed for the day even as the movie's producer, Phantom Films, opposed the plea.

"We will hear the matter at the end of the board and see if we can entertain the plea in the absence of the June 14 Bombay High Court judgement directing the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to issue an 'A' certificate to the film with just one cut," the bench said.

Appearing for Phantom Films, Senior Counsel Meenakshi Arora said the CBFC had already given the certificate and the film had already released overseas.

She said the film is scheduled to release across 8,000 screens countrywide on Friday.