Interior ministry fails to submit comments in Geo Super case
KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has granted a week to the deputy attorney general to file comments on behalf of the Ministry of Interior on the Independent Music Group’s petition for the issuance of a satellite media license to its sports channel Geo Super.
SHC’s division bench headed by Justice Gulzar Ahmed granted time to the federal law officer and adjourned the hearting till April 27. The court observed that if comments from the ministry were not filed on time the matter would be heard on the basis of available records.
Petitioners Independent Music Group submitted in the petition that an application had been moved to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority to issue a satellite media license to its sports channel Geo Super. However, PEMRA was not issuing the license on the grounds that the Ministry of Interior had refused to give security clearance to the petitioner channel.
The petitioner’s counsels Saim Hashmi and Jam Asif Mehmood submitted that PEMRA was bound to decide the application within 100 days of receiving it but had failed to comply with the Pemra Ordinance and Rules even after the lapse of several years; this was a serious breach and violation of the Pemra Ordinance, they argued. The counsels submitted that under the Pemra Ordinance there is no legal requirement regarding security clearance from the Ministry of Interior; thus, the ministry’s refusal was unlawful and to be declared void. The counsel submitted that not issuing the license to the petitioner was a discriminatory act since other TV channels were issued licenses by Pemra.
The deputy attorney general requested time to file comments on behalf of the Ministry of Interior. The court observed that the issue has been pending since 2009 but no comments had been filed by the ministry of interior.
Source: The News
Date:4/19/2011
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