Media Trial: Assistance on PFA raid coverage sought

LAHORE: Lahore High Court sought assistance on Wednesday from representatives of Punjab Union of Journalists and the Lahore Press Club to ascertain ethics for coverage of Punjab Food Authority’s raids on food outlets. Lahore Restaurants’ Association and others have filed the petition. Advocate Pir Masood Chishti, counsel for the petitioner, said the PFA tipped off newsmen about their raids. He said newsmen accompanied the PFA teams during raids on food outlets and aired the proceedings. The counsel said in civilised countries, even the identity of hardened criminals was kept hidden till the charges were proven. He said the PFA was a conducting media trial of owners of restaurants and food outlets. He said this was illegal. The authority’s legal adviser said newsmen were not invited to cover raids. He said the media had its own sources of information. Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah remarked that the court would like to ascertain to what extent the media were allowed to cover government actions. The judge issued notices to the PUJ and the LPC for December 17.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 10^th, 2015.