Following petitions challenging the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority’s (Pemra) announcements banning television channels from airing news of court proceedings and directing them to exclusively report on written decisions, the high courts in Lahore and Islamabad issued letters to the Pemra on Friday.
During Justice Abid Aziz Shaikh’s plea hearing, the Lahore High Court (LHC) issued an order to the electronic media watchdog directing it to reply to its notice by May 29.
The letter follows two notifications from the electronic media watchdog on May 21 directing TV broadcasters to stop airing coverage of court proceedings and to limit reporting of court orders to written reports.
Please take note that the petition’s LHC and IHC hearings are not being reported as of yet.
Azhar Siddiq submitted one petition, and Advocate Samra Malik filed the other.
Petitioners claimed that Articles 10-A, 19 and 19-A of the Pakistani Constitution are violated by Pemra’s ban. In addition, one of the pleas asked the judge to rule that the prosecutor’s plea was “inadmissible” and reject it.
Articles 19 and 19-A deal with the right to knowledge and freedom of speech, while Article 10-A deals with the right to a fair trial.
In their appeals, the petitioners named Pemra and the federal government as parties.
The LHC was petitioned to declare the notification “null and void” and to halt it until a decision was made.
