Sharp words: PPP leaders go to court against Mirza

Ask SHC to refrain Zulfiqar Mirza from making derogatory remarks against Asif Zardari.

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has been requested to stop the former home minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza from making 'derogatory' remarks about the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairperson and former president Asif Ali Zardari on the media.

The request was made on Tuesday in a petition jointly filed by two PPP MPAs, Tariq Masood Arain and Imdad Ali Pitafi. They cited Mirza and the chairperson of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) as respondents.

A few days ago, Zulfiqar Mirza passed disparaging and derogatory remarks about the former president, claimed the petitioners. They maintained that such remarks are likely to encourage and incite violence or disturb the maintenance of the law and order due to Mirza's anti-national and anti-state remarks.

Without caring that Zardari is the party co-chairperson and a former president, Mirza has used inferior and poor language in talk shows of various channels, thus the channels, which fall under the domain of Pemra, are equally involved in the said crime, the petition stated.

PPP legislators alleged that the acts of the respondents aim to cause maximum possible loss to the goodwill of former president due to personal jealousy as Mirza was continuously demanding to adopt the pick-and-choose policy when he was in the party and was finally removed.

The petitioners said the intention of Pemra, the information and technology ministry and the TV channels is to cause maximum possible loss, otherwise there is no reason why they would air Mirza's speech when he did not have any evidence to back his claims. In view of the above facts and circumstances, the respondents have caused injuries to the reputation of the former president out of malice and lust for personal enrichment, claimed the MPAs.

The court was pleaded to declare Mirza's acts and his remarks about the ex-president contrary to the law. A direction was sought for Pemra and the information ministry to ban all the television channels and anchors that allowed Mirza to use filthy language during live transmission.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 6^th, 2015.