The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday expressed dissatisfaction over the report submitted by Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) regarding the airing of programmes deemed to be ‘defaming the Supreme Court’.
During the course of hearing on Friday, Pemra submitted its report, on which Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui observed, “Pemra has
not initiated any legal action against TV channels that
violated the code of conduct by airing programmes defaming the superior judiciary.”
The bench was hearing the case in response to a petition filed by Advocate Nadeem Ahmed seeking restraints on the media from airing material that was “against the judiciary”.
Pemra’s lawyer Iftikhar Bashir told the court that the SC has already ordered the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to conduct an inquiry on the issue.
The court asked why Pemra seems so helpless and why it is reluctant to take any action against programmes which “ridicule the conduct of judges”.
The court directed Pemra to submit transcripts and footage of the certain TV show episodes and adjourned the case till the third week of November.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 20th, 2012.
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