ISLAMABAD (APP): The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday instructed the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to submit the report of a Swiss consultant in seal form in a case against alleged over licensing of TV channels.
The court remarked that the money was paid from the public funds to the Swiss consultant so the report couldn’t be hidden. The court had to decide whether the authority had the capacity to run all licensed TV channels.
Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard the case filed by Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) alleging the authority for issuance of TV licenses beyond its capacity. PEMRA’s lawyer requested the court to send this matter to the authority as it would re-hear the respondents. However, petitioner’s lawyer Faisal Saddiqui Advocate opposed the request and said that this matter had been pending with the authority. The chief justice said that a study was conducted and it was dependent on issuance of licenses. He said that the said study was not submitted to this court so far.
A PBA lawyer said that the PEMRA had a capacity of 100 channels but licenses were issued to 150. The cable operators had been given power indirectly for censorship.
The chief justice remarked that it was making the matter suspicious when the authority was not presenting the study. PEMRA’s lawyer said that the aforementioned study was related to digitalization instead of capacity.
The chief justice asked the PEMRA to assure that no cable operator would interfere into the matters of any channel. The PEMRA had no focus on articles 19 and 19-A of the Constitution, he said. Justice Athar Minallah remarked that the PEMRA was viewing the matter only from the perspective of business ventures and collecting revenue.
PEMRA’s lawyer said that any consumer could buy a digital box and be able to watch around 200 channels. We had to encourage the cable operators to improve their infrastructure. The court adjourned the hearing of the case with the above instructions.
IHC dismisses appeals in Imran Farooq murder case: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday rejected the appeals of convicted persons in Imran Farooq murder case and up held the decision of trial court regarding their imprisonment sentences.
The order said that the defence lawyers had failed to prove any flaw in the decision of the trial court. However, Deputy Attorney General Khawaja Imtiaz said that the matter pertaining to the MQM’s founder leader Altaf Hussain would be placed before the British government. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mohsin Akhter Kayani announced the verdict on the appeals of three accused including Moazam Ali, Khalid Shamim and Mohsin Ali.
An anti terrorism court previously had handed over imprisonment sentences to the accused along with the fine worth Rs.1 million, each in murder case. However, the deputy attorney general said that the judgment of this court would be sent to the British government as well. Britain has to conduct the trial of Altaf Hussain if it didn’t agree to hand over the accused to Pakistan. It may be mentioned here that senior leader of MQM Imran Farooq had been murdered in London on September 16, 2010.
The anti terrorism wing of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had registered a murder case on December 5, 2015. The Scotland Yard had interviewed 4,500 people and interrogated 7,600 documents during the investigation of the murder.
