LAHORE: According to The News on Friday, the Lahore High Court directed the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) not to put pressure on television networks to prevent the telecast of speeches given by Imran Khan, the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
The ruling was made by the court while the petitions challenging the prohibition on Khan’s speeches being televised were being heard. Pemra, on the other hand, denied that any such electronic media ban had been put into effect.
Judge Shams Mahmood Mirza of the LHC dismissed the petitions, noting that specific rulings regarding the PTI leader’s comments would be made available in a comprehensive ruling.
Responses have been sent in by the communications ministry, the federal government, and other parties, including Pemra.
Ahmad Pansota, an advocate for the PTI founder, stated that political parties must legally receive airtime based on the equality principle. According to him, TV outlets were not allowed to show Khan’s speeches on television, even though the high court had halted the notification of the ban.
According to Assistant Attorney General Sheraz Zaka, the PTI leader should be held accountable for the ruling in the Faizabad case as he made disparaging remarks about state institutions, which is why the relevant authorities banned his talks.
The LHC likewise overturned Pemra’s judgment in March of last year, prohibiting the transmission of lectures by the PTI founder.
The live broadcast of talks by the ousted prime minister was banned by the electronic media regulatory authority after he publicly mocked state institutions in the midst of the controversy surrounding his arrest in the Zaman Park case.
Khan then petitioned the LHC to have the prohibition lifted, claiming that the regulatory body had overreached its constitutional jurisdiction in enacting the limitation.
Khan filed a contempt of court suit against the media watchdog in LHC after Pemra disregarded the court’s directions. He asserted that Pemra has not lifted the prohibition on his remarks, in defiance of court orders.
