PEMRA revokes Bol News licence, operators asked to take channel off air

Order comes after Interior Ministry rejected security clearance of the company's directors

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) on Wednesday revoked the license of Bol News after Interior Ministry rejected security clearance of the company’s directors.

“In the 131st authority meeting held at Pemra headquarters on Tuesday, the authority took this decision in the light of the recommendations by the Council of Complaints (CoC) Sindh,” read a statement issued by the electronic and print media watchdog.



All cable operators have also been notified by the media regulatory body to immediately take Bol News and Bol Entertainment channels off air.

سیکورٹی کلیئرنس مسترد ہونے پر پیمرا نے بول نیوز اور بول انٹرٹینمنٹ (پاک نیوز) کا لائسنس منسوخ کر دیا pic.twitter.com/FlF8mqex5Z

— Report PEMRA (@reportpemra) May 3, 2017

“Bol News and Bol Entertainment (Pak News) have been ordered to surrender the original licences and clear all outstanding dues,” the notification further said.

The authority will take strict action against violators for taking the channel on air, it added.

Bol News is a private TV channel owned by Labbaik (Pvt) Ltd whose directors namely Shoaib A Shiakh, Ayesha Shoaib Shaikh, Viqas Atiq and Sarwat Bashir have been denied security clearance by the Interior Ministry.



Shaikh, along with other directors of the company, was taken into custody on May 27, 2015 after investigators found hundreds of thousands of forged degrees and students ID cards from a secret office of the company in Karachi.

In August last year, Sindh Hight Court had granted bail to Shoaib Shaikh, Axact Chief Executive Officer, in a case of fraud, extortion and money laundering.