PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Monday moved the Lahore High Court (LHC) against the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) decision to bar all satellite TV channel from broadcasting his speeches and press talks.
\nThe LHC registrar\u2019s office has fixed the plea for hearing and Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan will take it up tomorrow.
\nOn Sunday, the media regulator had slapped a ban on Imran\u2019s speeches and press talks with \u201cimmediate effect\u201d after he had lashed out at former army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa for what he called \u201cprotecting incumbent rulers in their alleged corruption cases\u201d. Pemra has also suspended the licence of ARY News for airing the clips of Imran\u2019s speech at Zaman Park in bulletin.
\nYesterday\u2019s directives were the third such ban on the broadcasting and rebroadcasting of Imran\u2019s speeches and press talks. The first such restriction was set aside by the Islamabad High Court on Sept 6, 2022 and the other was withdrawn hours after being imposed by the government.
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\nThe petition said that Pemra had issued the order \u201cin excess of the jurisdiction vested in it and without having regard to the constitutional rights guaranteed under Articles 19 and 19-A of the Constitution\u201d. It further contended that the authority was not empowered to issue a blanket prohibition order, which appears to be \u201cin violation of the principle of proportionality\u201d.
\nThe plea argued that according to Section 8 of the Pemra Ordinance, one-third of the total number of members were required to constitute quorum for meetings. But the meeting which passed the order against Imran comprised only the chairman and three members which made the order \u201ccoram-non-judice\u201d.
\nIt said that Pemra\u2019s order was \u201cillegal, unlawful, more than its jurisdiction, and contrary to the fundamental rights as enshrined under the Constitution\u201d and liable to be set aside.
\n\u201cThe Impugned Order in effect has prohibited all news channels from airing live speeches of Imran based on spreading hate speech and making provocative statements against state institutions and officers. It is submitted that no hate speech or any such statements were made against the state institutions during his speech which entails such penal consequences as notified in the impugned order,\u201d the petition said, arguing that the ban was in violation of Article 19 of the Constitution and the Pemra Ordinance, 2002.
\nThe petition said that Imran\u2019s speech in question had been \u201cincorrectly labelled as hate speech\u201d and his words were in no way \u201cprejudicial to the maintenance of law and order\u201d. It contended that Pemra was taking the statement \u201cout of the context and political backdrop in which it was made in order to create censorship and inhibit the \u2018freedom of speech\u2019.\u201d
\nIt further said that the move to ban Imran\u2019s speeches was an \u201carbitrary and malafide use\u201d of Pemra\u2019s powers to \u201cstifle discussion regarding the torture and brutality being carried out against Shahbaz Gill and keep the public at large unaware of the developments in the case and essentially, thwart justice\u201d.
\nIt said that the order was \u201cpurely driven out of vengeance\u201d and the respondents invoked criminal proceedings \u201cjust to illegally harass the appellants and stop them from pursuing their political activities\u201d.
\nPemra bans Imran\u2019s speeches, againIn the prohibition order issued on Sunday, Pemra referred to previous directives wherein all licencees were directed to \u201crefrain from telecasting any content against state institutions\u201d.
\nThe authority noted that Imran, in his speeches and statements, was \u201cleveling baseless allegations and spreading hate speech through his provocative statements against state institutions and officers which is prejudicial to the maintenance of law and order and is likely to disturb public peace and tranquility.\u201d
\nPemra said that licencees telecasted the content without the effective utilisation of the time delay mechanism, in violation of the authority\u2019s laws and judgements by the apex court.
\n\u201c\u2026 therefore, the competent authority i.e. chairman Pemra in view of the above mentioned background and reasons, in exercise of delegated powers of the authority vested in Section 27(a) of the Pemra Ordinance 2002 as amended by Pemra (Amendment) Act 2007, hereby prohibits broadcast\/rebroadcast of speech(s)\/press talks (recorded or live) of Imran Khan on all satellite TV channels with immediate effect,\u201d the order said.
\nThe authority also directed all satellite TV channels to ensure that an \u201cimpartial editorial board\u201d is constituted to ensure that their platforms is not used by anyone for \u201cuttering remarks in any manner which are contemptuous and against any state institution and hateful, prejudicial to law and order situation in the country\u201d.
\nIn case of non-compliance, the licence will be suspended under Section 30 of the Pemra Ordinance, 2002 without any show cause notice in public interest, the order said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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