Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday upheld the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) orders of a ban on a Bol News programme hosted by Aamir Liaquat.

The top court also set aside the contempt of court notices issued by the Sindh High Court (SHC) against PEMRA.

The court also directed the said channel’s executives to respond to the show cause notices of PEMRA related to the security clearance and banning the programme.

The SC observed that the channel could approach the high court in separate appeals in case of any grievance. However, the court ruled that the ban on the programme would remain intact until the final order of the PEMRA, after hearing the parties.

The court also revived an earlier show cause notice issued by the PEMRA to the channel for not having security clearance for its directors from the Ministry of Interior.

A three-judge bench headed by Justice Amir Hani Muslim resumed the hearing of PEMRA plea against the stay order of January 27, 2017 granted by the SHC to Labbaik (Pvt) Ltd, which owns Bol channel. During the course of the hearing, the SC was informed that the PEMRA had issued a notice pertaining to the licence on April 16, 2015, which was later suspended by the SHC when the channel challenged the notice through an appeal.

The counsel for PEMRA informed the court that on October 19, 2016, the SHC was informed that the regulatory body’s order had been withdrawn.

He said that after withdrawal, the appeal ought to have disposed of, as it became infructuous.

Regarding the ban on Aamir Liaquat’s programme, the counsel contended that the authority received complaints that the host between January 2 and January 24 levelled unfounded and baseless allegations against certain activists and journalists, calling them anti-Pakistan and anti-Islam, which endangered their lives.