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A Lahore High Court full bench on Tuesday adjourned till January 11 the hearing of petitions seeking ban on media coverage of Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain’s public speeches
The bench directed lawyers for both parties to come better prepared at the next hearing to argue their cases. The directive was issued after Advocate Ahmad Owais and Iftikhar Ahmad, the counsel for petitioners, sought more time to better prepare their case. Earlier, Advocate Asma Jahangir, counsel for the MQM chief, requested the court to withdraw an interim ban on the media coverage of her client’s speeches.
Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi responded that the matter of the ban was now pending hearing in the Supreme Court of Pakistan. He said the SC had yet to issue a directive in Jahangir’s plea against the ban. The bench also issued notices again to the Attorney General of Pakistan and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) chairman, seeking their responses to the petitions. No representative of the Law Ministry or the PEMRA appeared before the court on Tuesday.
The PEMRA chairman has been summoned over media coverage of a police case involving the MQM chief in the United Kingdom. The bench is hearing several petitions seeking registration of a high treason case against the MQM chief for delivering speeches against state institutions including the armed forces and rangers.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 23rd, 2015.
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