Intra-court reference: Geo only accepts decisions given in its favour, claims Justice Siddiqui

The judge remarks that Geo regards as ‘good’ only those verdicts and judges who issue rulings in its favour.

ISLAMABAD:

Addressing Geo’s lawyer Akram Shaikh, an Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge said on Monday the channel regarded as ‘good’ only those verdicts and judges who gave rulings in its favour.

“However, if a verdict is made against it, not only it is regarded as a bad verdict but the judge is also declared as prejudiced,” Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqi said as he asked Shaikh if Geo TV was a self-appointed reformer.

He said Geo in its intra-court appeal had not challenged the IHC single-judge bench’s judgment. “Do you want to file an appeal against Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority’s (Pemra) order?” he asked Shaikh, who apologised to the court, said it was his mistake and he wanted time for its rectification.

According to Express News, Shaikh requested the court to stop Pemra from taking action on Ministry of Defence’s reference against Geo. Justice Siddiqui – who is a part of the two-member bench headed by IHC chief Justice Muhammad Anwar Kasi – replied that Pemra was not taking action against Geo and had sought the Ministry of Law’s comments, which should be awaited.

Geo’s lawyer said Pemra’s fact-finding committee was split over the issue while the authority’s chief had not been appointed. He said Pemra had a Council for Complaints to investigate complaints.

Later the IHC postponed Geo’s intra-court appeal against Pemra for an indefinite period.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 13^th, 2014.