Daily Times

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has suspended the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) notification banning famed anchorperson Aamir Liaquat for hate speech on his programme.

A single bench comprising Justice Shahnawaz Tariq suspended the PEMRA notification till February 1 and issued notices to PEMRA officials among others. Aamir Liaqat approached the court attacking the notification that placed a ban on his Aisay Nahi Chalay Ga programme on a private TV channel and PEMRA’s subsequent ban on the channel for flouting its order.

Liaqat’s lawyer contended that his programme was banned without giving his client a fair hearing. “PEMRA’s notification was illegal and liable to be struck down as it did not follow the legal procedure under the relevant laws.” He told the judge that later, PEMRA took the channel off the air in violation of the high court’s orders.

The lawyer added that this court had earlier restrained the regulatory body from taking any coercive action against the channel without permission from the court. Defending the opposing stance, PEMRA’s counsel argued that Liaqat used indecent and incendiary language on his programme and leveled allegations of blasphemy, sedition against senior journalists and civil society activists while calling them infidels. PEMRA, being a regulatory body, while discharging its constitutional duty banned the host. Earlier, the regulatory authority had banned Liaquat from hosting any programme or appearing on Bol News in any manner, as a guest, analyst, reporter, actor, or in audio, video beepers, promos or advertisement of his programme. If Bol News failed to comply with the orders, the authority would suspend the channel’s licence.