Altaf media blackout: LHC to conduct next hearing on Dec 22

MQM chief’s counsel had requested the early hearing

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has accepted the request of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief’s counsel for an early hearing of the media blackout case.

On September 7, the LHC had ordered blacking out Altaf Hussain in print and electronic media. Later, the MQM chief’s counsel Asma Jahangir filed an appeal in the Supreme Court, requesting the court to suspend the LHC’s order.

However, the top court on November 3 had asked Altaf to approach the LHC for interpretation of its September 7 order. A two-judge bench, headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, had disposed of the MQM petition and asked the party to pursue the case in the LHC.

On Thursday, Asma filed an application in the LHC for an early hearing of the case. She pleaded that it was an important case and, therefore, requested an order for fixing an early date for hearing. In response, Justice Mazhar Ali Akbar Naqvi fixed December 22 as the date for the next hearing.

Back in September, a full bench of the LHC had heard petitions filed against Altaf’s speeches allegedly critical of state institutions, including Pakistan Army and the paramilitary Rangers, following which coverage of the MQM chief’s speeches and publishing or broadcasting of his pictures and clips and his activities in the media were banned.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 18^th,  2015.