Supreme Court seeks statement on policy of state-run TV
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Pakistan Television (PTV) managing director to submit till October 17 his statement indicating the policy in televising news and current affairs programmes.
A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain took up a decade-old pending case moved by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement in 1999 regarding allocation of time to political parties on the state-owned television.
The bench also ordered the official to indicate in his report rating of its news and current affairs programmes in urban areas, etc.The bench noted in its order that the funding for the television were made from the public exchequer through the government, ads and through public contribution.
During course of proceedings, the chief justice inquired about the policy for controlling contents of programmes and observed that being a public owned company it should allocate time to all political parties.
The official replied that currently the television was running seven channels and its contents were determined by a six-member programming committee. However, he admitted that the decision of the committee was not absolute.
The chief justice expressed his displeasure with the contents of the news and current affairs programmes and observed that it was making earning from the citizens of the country.
The official said the government owned its 100 percent shares and was earning through ads and licence fee. He said their policy had changed completely as compared to 1999 as there was vast openness in the news and current affairs programmes.
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