Home TRENDING IMRAN’s PEMRA BAN APPEAL AWAITS LHC RULING

IMRAN’s PEMRA BAN APPEAL AWAITS LHC RULING

PEMRA's restriction on the airing of Imran's speeches was lifted by the LHC.

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PEMRA’s restriction on the airing of Imran’s speeches was lifted by the LHC.
The law officer claims that the court does not have jurisdiction over the subject, while the judge believes that the ban violates fundamental liberties.

LAHORE: The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) had prohibited satellite TV broadcasters from airing live or recorded talks by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Imran Khan, but the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday lifted the restriction.

The former premier’s plea to overturn the prohibition on PEMRA was heard by Judge Shams Mehmood Mirza, who also issued the reserved decision. He also suggested that a full bench be assembled to hear the matter.

Imran was accused of making “baseless claims and fomenting hate speech through his aggressive utterances against state institutions and personnel, which is detrimental to the preservation of law and order and is liable to disturb public peace and tranquilly,” according to the restriction order.

PEMRA had stated that it is “in blatant violation of Article 19 of the Constitution and a Supreme Court ruling” when nasty, slanderous, and unfounded statements are made about government entities.

According to observations, such content was broadcast by TV channels without effectively utilising the time-delay mechanism, in contravention of PEMRA statutes and top court rulings, the media regulator continued.

Imran had filed a petition with the LHC to challenge the order. Through his attorney, Muhammed Ahmed Pansota, he claimed that Athar Minallah, then chief justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), had ruled in a case titled “Imran Ahmad Khan Niazi Vs. PEMRA” that a similar PEMRA prohibition order was “ultra vires the Ordinance” (exceeding its authority) on similar grounds.

Imran’s solicitor claimed in the petition that PEMRA issued the challenged order beyond the scope of its authority and without taking into account the rights protected by Articles 19 and 19-A of the Constitution.

On Wednesday, Judge Shahid Bilal Hassan withdrew from the case and requested that it be assigned to another bench. He also handed the case file to the Chief Justice of the LHC.

The matter was heard by Judge Shams Mehmood Mirza today (Thursday).

Imran’s solicitor asserted that PEMRA issued the contested order on March 5, 2023, as the hearings got underway, claiming that the regulatory body’s claims were unfounded.

“How can the ban may be put on a leader’s talks,” the court questioned adding that such a prohibition “is against freedom of speech”.

The law enforcement official informed the court that this subject is not within the purview of this court in the interim. The law officer continued by saying that the entire bench should hear this case.

The restriction, according to Imran’s solicitor, is an infringement on his client’s right to free expression. He asked the court to overturn the illegal decree.

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