Media accountability: ‘SC to form two-member commission’
The commission will provide recommendations for media and misuse of secret funds by ministries.
Supreme Court has been requested to set a time frame for the commission to provide its recommendations before general elections. DESIGN: SUNARA NIZAMI
ISLAMABAD:
The Supreme Court will form a two-member commission which will formulate terms of reference for the media ahead of the upcoming general elections, senior TV anchor Hamid Mir told the media on Thursday.
Mir was speaking outside the Supreme Court after the hearing of the media accountability petition filed by him along with senior journalist Absar Alam. Mir said that the members of the commission will be announced by the Supreme Court on January 15.
The journalist told the media that two names for the commission were proposed during today’s hearing on which no objection was raised. The names were of former judge Justice Nasir Alam Zahid and former information minister Javed Jabbar.
The Supreme Court has been requested by the petitioners to set a time frame for the commission to provide its recommendations on content regulation and ensure its implementation before the general elections. The petitioners claimed that certain elements were trying to influencing the media through advertising agencies ahead of the elections.
“Justice Khilji Arif has said that it is important for transparent elections that the media has a transparent policy, and we hope that the commission, before the elections, will present its recommendations and they will be implemented before the elections as well,” said Mir.
The media commission will also announce terms regarding the misuse of secret funds by as many as 27 ministries, including the information ministry.
According to the petition, these institutions have allegedly used an amount of Rs5 billion under the head of secret funds to manipulate the media.
The Supreme Court will form a two-member commission which will formulate terms of reference for the media ahead of the upcoming general elections, senior TV anchor Hamid Mir told the media on Thursday.
Mir was speaking outside the Supreme Court after the hearing of the media accountability petition filed by him along with senior journalist Absar Alam. Mir said that the members of the commission will be announced by the Supreme Court on January 15.
The journalist told the media that two names for the commission were proposed during today’s hearing on which no objection was raised. The names were of former judge Justice Nasir Alam Zahid and former information minister Javed Jabbar.
The Supreme Court has been requested by the petitioners to set a time frame for the commission to provide its recommendations on content regulation and ensure its implementation before the general elections. The petitioners claimed that certain elements were trying to influencing the media through advertising agencies ahead of the elections.
“Justice Khilji Arif has said that it is important for transparent elections that the media has a transparent policy, and we hope that the commission, before the elections, will present its recommendations and they will be implemented before the elections as well,” said Mir.
The media commission will also announce terms regarding the misuse of secret funds by as many as 27 ministries, including the information ministry.
According to the petition, these institutions have allegedly used an amount of Rs5 billion under the head of secret funds to manipulate the media.