SHC Moved against amended Pemra ordinance
KARACHI: A constitutional petition was filed in the Sindh High Court (SHC), questioning the promulgation of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Ordinance, 2007, by President Pervez Musharraf, prior to the commencement of the National Assembly session.
The petitioner, Syed Muhammad Iqbal Kazmi, making the Federal Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Pemra, and the Sindh Information Department respondents, submitted that the amended Pemra ordinance was aimed at gagging the media.
He said the government should have introduced these amendments as a bill in the National Assembly under Article 70 of the Constitution for approval. The petitioner contended that the federal government and Pemra in violation of Articles 4, 8 and 25 banned the transmission of private TV channels, which is tantamount to usurpation of fundamental rights of the citizens. He submitted that these TV channels never telecast anti-state programmes.
Kazmi submitted that the Constitution neither authorises the President to consider himself the Army nor it allows the government to declare itself the state. The petitioner also challenged the suspension of transmission of some private TV channels by the cable operators, submitting that Article 28 does not authorise the cable operators to suspend the transmission of any TV channel.
He also challenged the government action of forcing TV channels not to telecast programmes on the prevailing political crisis, and submitted that the government’s illegal action tarnished the country’s image abroad.
The petitioner said that the government had illegally banned the transmission of Geo TV for telecasting its programme “Meray Mutabiq” since June 3, despite the fact that former justice of Supreme Court Nasir Aslam Zahid, former chief of the Army staff Mirza Aslam Baig, and ruling PML leader Kabir Ali Wasti expressed their opinions in the programme.
The petitioner prayed the court to restrain Pemra and the cable operators from suspending the transmission of TV channels, including Geo, ARY, Aaj, and harassing.
Source: The News
Date:6/6/2007
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