Court order authorising PEMRA to censor TV content challenged

PBA moves SC against regulations similar to Gen Zia's "arbitrary and whimsical censorship under the garb of indecency"

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) has challenged the Islamabad High Court (IHC) order that authorises the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to scrutinise TV content, including dramas and commercials, for obscenity.

Barrister Syed Ali Zafar filed petitions in the Supreme Court on Saturday against the alleged violations of the Code of Conduct 2015 by Pemra. In the petitions, he submitted that under the law, Pemra could not act as “monitoring police” and impose, through its regulations, how each channel should run their programmes.

On March 17, IHC’s Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqi had appointed a committee which was tasked with examining the contents of TV shows, dramas and advertisements. The petitioner objected that the court had no power or jurisdiction under the Constitution to become a regulator of TV programmes.



Barrister Zafar pointed out that the regulatory body was bound by the Code of Conduct 2015 under which media content was controlled by the broadcasters under a self-regulatory regime. He argued that Pemra had breached this code of conduct and contrary to the self-regulatory regime, had issued regulations to control and censor the media against the fundamental rights of the freedom of expression, the freedom of press and the freedom of information enshrined in Articles 19 and 19A of the Constitution.



In the petitions, the lawyer submitted that it was only during the dictatorial regime of General Zia-ul-Haq that such "arbitrary and whimsical censorship under the garb of indecency" was imposed on the media and the issuance of these regulations by Pemra was similar to that.

The appeal read that Pakistan’s electronic media had fulfilled their role in ensuring that whatever was aired was in accordance with the culture of the country.