Daily Times

Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan on Tuesday assured the Supreme Court that no action would be taken against journalists, who were issued notices over their alleged involvement in the smear campaign against judges, till the general elections slated for February 8.

The development came during the hearing of a suo motu case which was taken up along with an old case heard in 2021 pertaining to the harassment of journalists. A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Muhammed Ali Mazhar and Justice Mussarat Hilali conducted the hearing of the case.

On January 17, the caretaker government formed a five-member Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to ascertain the facts behind a malicious social media campaign against the Supreme Court judges after the apex court gave a verdict on election symbol of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

The JIT constituted under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 consists of officials from police, FIA and intelligence agencies.

The FIA’s list titled “JIT-SM campaign against CJP and State Institutions” which has names of 47 media persons and YouTubers went viral on social media. A day earlier, the top judge said the Supreme Court cannot stop any journalist or even the general public from expressing criticism, directing the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) not to take legal action against them for critiquing the apex court.

The AGP, during the hearing today, told the top court that the notices will be issued again after the elections. AGP Awan and the Press Association of Supreme Court’s officials appeared before the court.

At the outset of the hearing, CJP Isa asked if any petition was filed today. To this, the press association’s president said that the plea could not be filed as the FIA did not provide a list.

CJP Isa said that the top court did not issue an order because of this, adding that he was expecting a petition to be filed. “The court cannot issue any order until the matter is heard in the judges’ committee,” he added.