The 89th meeting of PEMRA Council of Complaints Lahore was held on 09-04-2019 at PEMRA Regional Office Lahore, under the chair of Mr. Iftikhar Ahmad Tarar.
The matter of Muhammad Ramzan, Superintendent Engineer, South Circle, LESCO against CITY-42, Council disposed of the matter while imposing a fine of Rs. 100,000/- . A fine of Rs. 500,000/-also imposed on Aaj News in the matter of Muhammad Shahid Hussain for non-compliance of the undertaking and fraud with the Authority of the Council of Complaints. In the matter of Assistant Controller (Secrecy) for Controller of Examinations BISE, Lahore, the Council imposed a fine of Rs. 500,000/- to App News for airing of news without verifying it.
The matter of Hassan Mustafa Executive Director, GEO Group against GNN was disposed of with directions to the channel to be careful in future while reporting such incidents / protests, etc. The Council while hearing the matter of Director General Punjab Food Authority against All STV Channels, disposed of the matter with recommendations to issue directives to all Channels to follow the statuary provisions relating to advertisements.
The matter of Roze News against Cable Operators of Lahore Region was disposed of with the directions that all the cable operators are bound with the Orders of Honorable Supreme Court of Pakistan dated 12-06-2018 & 16-01-2019.
The Council disposed of the matter of Ms. Samina Raqeeb Khan against ARY News with the directions to the channel in light of Judgments of Honorable Lahore High Court Lahore to remove the alleged material from its You Tube. The matter of Medical Superintendent THQ Hospital Chichawatni against Abb Takk was disposed of with the directions to on-air the response / point of view of the Hospital Authorities during the prime time.
The matter of Medical Superintendent Services Hospital Lahore against City-42 and Express TV was adjourned due to non-appearance of complainant. The matter of Dr. Shazia Manzoor against Royal TV was adjourned on the request of the lawyer of the complainant. The matter of Ms. Shazia Barlas against Channel-92 was adjourned due to written request of the respondent.
In the matter of Mr. Muhammad Azhar Siddique against 05 STV Channels against appearance of proclaimed offender/absconder Ishaq Dar on their channels, the matter was adjourned while interim order directing all TV Channels not to allow proclaimed offenders from appearing on TV was issued. Channels are directed to comply with the dictum laid down in PLD 2019 Supreme Court 1 and PLD 2016 Karachi 238 whereby it has been held that an absconder/proclaimed offender has no right to enjoy various rights such as appearing on TV.
Other Council members including Mr. Muhammad Ahmed Pansota, Ms. Sahar Zareen Bandial, Dr. Mubashir Nadeem, Ms. Fariha Shahid and Ms. Ayesha Manzoor Wattoo (RGM/ Secretary COC) were also present in the meeting.