The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed the Sindh government to pay advertisement arrears to newspapers. The order was issued by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar while hearing a petition filed by Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) Secretary General JabbarKhattak. The SHC directed the Sindh government to present a report after ensuring the payments within 15 days. In its petition, the CPNE had stated that the Sindh government had not been paying advertisement arrears to newspapers for the past many years. “This delay has caused a financial crisis in the newspaper industry. Resultantly, the journalists and their families are suffering as they are not being paid regularly,” the petition stated. It stated that the Sindh government was delaying the payments. “Earlier, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had taken suo moto notice and directed the Sindh government to ensure the payment of arrears within four weeks. However, no progress had been made in this regard,” the petition stated.