Tag: Broadcasting

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President promulgates new Pemra Ordinance

ISLAMABAD – In order to minimise the influence of federal government on the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority, the President of Pakistan has promulgated an Ordinance minimising Authority’s members and giving representation to Pakistan Broadcasting Association and general public.

The newly-promulgated Ordinance, which may be called the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Ordinance 2018, was submitted before the Supreme Court on Thursday in Media Commission Case.

The Ordinance is promulgated to substitute the Section 5, the powers of the federal government to issue directives, and Section 6, the appointment of Chairman and members.

According to the Ordinance, the federal government shall issue directives to Authority on ‘Policy Matters.’

Power of the federal government to issue directives – “(1) The federal government may, from time to time, issue directives to the Authority, in writing, on a matter of policy. (2) The directives under sub-section (1) may be issued with regard to the matters relating to Article 19 of the Constitution. (3) If a question arises whether any matter is a matter of policy or not, the decision of the Federal Government thereon shall be final.” In a previous ordinance, the Authority consisted of a Chairman and 12 members. However in the latest Ordinance the members have been minimised to eight.

The chairman and members of the Authority.—(1) The Authority shall consist of a chairman and eight members. (2) The chairman and members shall be appointed by the federal government and shall be persons who are well-known for their integrity, competence, expertise and experience in the field of media, business, management, finance, economics or law. The chairman and members shall be required to hold at least masters or professional degree or equivalent qualification from an institution recognised by the Higher Education Commission and shall have at least twenty years of experience in the relevant field.

(3) The following shall be the members of the Authority, namely :- (a) a member to be appointed by the Federal Government who shall be the permanent member of the Authority and shall work on full time basis; (b) an officer of BS-22 of the Federal Government; (c) the Chairman, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority; (d) a member to be nominated by the Pakistan Broadcasters Association; and (e) four members to be nominated by each Provincial Government from general public out of which not more than two members shall be women to be nominated by the Provincial Government on rotation basis.

(4) The Authority shall have only two ex-officio members as mentioned in clauses (b) and (c) of sub-section (1).

(5) The members shall receive such fee and expenses for each meeting as may be prescribed.

(6) A member, other than an ex-officio member, shall be deemed to have vacated his office if he remains absent for three consecutive meetings of the authority without the leave of the authority.

The copy of the Ordinance states, “AND WHEREAS the Senate and the National Assembly are not in session and the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is satisfied that circumstances exist which render it necessary to take immediate action.”

The copy of the Ordinance was submitted by Secretary Information Ahmed Nawaz Sukhera before a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, which on Thursday took up the case regarding independence of Authority and appointments of the members, the case known as Media Commission Case.

During the course of hearing, secretary information informed the bench that chairman of the Authority could not be appointed as Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had stopped the appointments.

He, however, informed that the ministry will move an application to the Commission for permission to appoint Chairman PEMRA.

Senior journalist Hamid Mir, who was the main petitioner, requested the top court to dispose of the case since the Ordinance had been promulgated in the line with his plea.

Mir believes that the federal government cannot blackout any channel directly after the promulgation of Ordinance.

During the hearing, chief justice also observed that he desired to make state-run PTV an independent channel as well.

The top court has disposed of the case and directed the employees of some private TV channels to appear in Lahore Registry on June 13 for their grievance of outstanding salaries.

The Nation

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Ahsan Iqbal tenders apology in contempt case

Former interior minister Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday tender unconditional apology before a full bench of Lahore High Court and submitted his written reply to a contempt notice issued to him.

The bench also directed the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to submit a detailed report on petitions against the alleged anti-judiciary speeches by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and other leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

The court also sought a copy of a Supreme Court’s order regarding the pardon given to two of the contemnors involved in staging an anti-judiciary rally in Kasur.

In his reply, Ahsan Iqbal stated he “respects for the courts and always abides by the law”. He had appeared before the bench along with his counsel Azam Nazir Tarar.

The counsel requested the court to discharge the contempt proceedings against the former minster as Ahsan Iqbal.

To this, the bench observed that Ahsan Iqbal could have adopted legal course if he had any reservation with the remarks of the chief justice of Pakistan but he did not do so.

The bench, while referring to anti-judiciary speeches of ex-cabinet members Nehal Hashmi, Danyal Aziz, Talal Chaudhry and Maryam Aurangzeb, asked Ahsan Iqbal, “Did you ever teach this lesson to other leaders of your party?” Ahsan Iqbal replied that he should not be punished for the sins of others. On the bench’s order, the video of the former minister’s objectionable speech was also played in the court room.

Further hearing of the case was postponed till June 11. The bench earlier had issued a notice to Ahsan Iqbal to explain about his judiciary remarks he made apparently in response to observations by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar about his involvement in appointment of vice chancellor of a women university. A petition against the former interior minister was filed after he made a speech at a seminar in April this year in which he had criticised Chief Justice Saqib Nisar for allegedly levelling baseless allegations against him.

Daily Times

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PEMRA takes notice of anti-army, anti-judiciary commentators

SLAMABAD: The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has ‘taken notice’ of anti-military and anti-judiciary comments made by guests on two different private television channels.

PEMRA sent letters of ‘advice’ to Aab Taak news and Bol News for airing anti-military and anti-judiciary comments. Aab Taak news found itself in trouble over the programme “Tonight with Fareeha” in which one of the guests, Saddique ul Farooq, allegedly passed derogatory remarks against the armed forces of Pakistan.

The other news channel, Bol News, was criticised for their programme “Tajziay Sami Ibrahim kay saath” in which a guest, politician Ch Jaffar Iqbal, made offensive comments regarding the judiciary.

The notification was among two other notifications of ‘advice’ issued by the media regulatory body, one of which had regarding pundit Orya Maqbool Jan’s ‘derogatory remarks’ against Meesha Shafi, and the other about smoking scenes in a television drama aired by Pashto 1.

Read more: PEMRA takes notice of Orya Maqbool Jan’s ‘derogatory remarks against Meesha Shafi
The notices further state that airing of such content is in direct violation of PEMRA Ordinance 2002, PEMRA Rules 2009 and Electronic Media (Programmes and Advertisements) Code of Conduct 2015.

The news channels have also been advised to have more robust editorial oversight and to utilise time-delay mechanism properly, so that abusive and undesirable foul language could be averted during the programmes.

While the letters are not even an official warning, PEMRA has specifically pointed out in their letters that they have “time to time advised News and Current Affairs Satellite TV Channels Licenses to refrain from airing any content which is in violation of Electronic Media Code of Conduct 2015.

Pakistan Today

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Journalists, civil society activists protest, demand restoration of Geo News

LONDON: Hundreds of people, including journalists, members of the civil society, activists, and political workers staged a protest here on the weekend to demand Pakistani authorities to restore Geo News and its associated channels.

The demonstration was held in front of the High Commission of Pakistan, in London, with journalists of Pakistan Press Club UK, International Pakistani Journalists Organization, and Pakistan Journalists Association taking part in the protest.

They were joined by various Pakistani-origin political parties as well, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP), National Awami Party, and Awami Workers Party.

Leaders of different local organisations, as well as members of the community, were in attendance too.

Holding banners and placards and chanting slogans in favour of all Jang/Geo group channels, the attendees unanimously condemned the restrictions imposed on the transmission of all Jang/Geo group channels and demanded their immediate restoration.

The protest continued for over two hours and the participants later dispersed peacefully.

Addressing the participants, Shoukat Dar, the president of the Pakistan Press Club UK, said people have a constitutional right to information from the media outlet of their choice.

“We are united and will never tolerate these disadvantageous tactics by the authorities,” Dar said, adding that the people of Pakistan and the journalists’ community are at the same page and would not accept any kind of dictatorship.

Wajahat Ali Khan and Ghulam Husain Awan, co-secretary-generals of the Pakistan Journalist Association, condemned the restrictions imposed on the transmission of all Jang/Geo group channels and said it was not the first time in the country’s history that rulers had used unfair means to restrict free and fair information.

“It’s an old tactic to [curb] the freedom of information; we stand united and will continue the struggle until the restoration of full transmission of Geo network,” they said.

The union leaders reiterated their commitment to freedom of the press in Pakistan, stressing that should the concerned authorities fail to take stern action against the culprits, a new way of action will be announced to push for the restoration of all Jang/Geo group channels.

PML-N leaders Shakoor Khan, Nasir Butt, Iqbal Sindhu, Anjum Chaudhry, Begum Nawadar Khan, Imran Saeed, and Saif Ali Khan also condemned the restriction of free and fair information to Pakistanis.

They said media was a fourth pillar of the state and that their party believed in the complete freedom of the press.

Pakistan is in a transitional period of progress, where the people’s welfare is of priority, they said, but negative forces did not want to see the nation progress and prosper.

Mohsen Bari, the president of PPP, UK, and Asif Khan, the in-charge of the party’s media cell, stated that their party favoured press freedom, which, they said, was an integral part of the developmental process.

Showed their solidarity with media, especially with the Jang/Geo group, they said the imposition of an unannounced ban on any media out was condemnable.

Javed Akhundzada, the secretary-general of Awami National Party, Information Secretary Tahir Aurangzeb, and others noted that Pakistan was progressing fast in terms of economic and social growth and that has primarily come on the back of media.

They said their party would not accept a non-democratic way of action, including, but not limited to, restrictions on the country’s media outlets.

PSP London leaders, including Naeem Abbass Khan, Abbas Rana Mahmood, Afzaal Kiyani, Arif Mughal, and others, said the political activists and journalists strive for a better Pakistan.

Geo Tv

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Khursheed condemns ban on Geo News

SUKKUR: The Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah said on Thursday that it is not the opportune time todisclose the name of caretaker prime minister. He said consultations and discussions are going on over different candidates, adding the final decision would be taken in the last month.

Khursheed Shah the Sindh government has provided excellent health services to the people. He said many of those services are not even available to public of developed countries. He said there is nothing like judicial martial law. He said he condemns the ban on the Geo News in the strongest possible terms. No channel or media outlet should be closed. About the tax amnesty scheme, he said why it has been introduced two months before the elections.

He said during the PPP government, they had started work on the tax scheme and a survey of three million people was also conducted but then the PPP government’s tenure ended. He said we even handed over the survey report to the government, but the new government took no interest.

He said their government, despite massive floods and terrorism, they addressed and resolved all the issues of public, but the incumbent government has done nothing. He said in Pakistan the rate of tax payment is 0.4 per cent which is very low, while in India, it is 7 per cent and in Bangaldesh, it is 3.5 or 3 per cent. He said all the issues would be resolved if the supremacy of parliament is acknowledged. He said Nawaz Sharif did not give the parliament its due sanctity. He also did not acknowledge the supremacy of the public mandate which is the root cause of all of his troubles.

The News

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Pemra’s decision to black out channels challenged

LAHORE: Pakistan Electronic Media Regulation Authority’s (Pemra) decision to suspend the broadcast of live coverage of Tehrik-e-Labaik Pakistan’s sit in from Islamabad was challenged in the Lahore High Court (LHC).

The petition sought strict action against PEMRA Chairman Absar Alam. Pemra’s decision was challenged by Amina Malik who contended that Chairman Absar Alam violated the law through these orders.

She contended that according to the Constitution and Information Act, every citizen has the right to be informed about the ongoing situation in the country. “However, the authority blacked out the channels.” She asked the court to take strict action against the Pemra chairman for the illegal step.

The federal government, on Sunday evening, allowed television channels to resume transmission on the condition they will follow the code of conduct.

The transmission was shut down for 28 hours to avoid giving live coverage to the abortive operation launched by the police and Frontier Constabulary on Saturday against the protesters of the Faizabad sit-in.

The decision was taken during a meeting between Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

In a statement, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb said that the transmission of TV channels was restored in pursuance of the directives of the PM.

“Suspending the transmissions was a painful decision which had to be taken in national interest after exhaustive deliberations with a view to prevent the spread of chaos and anarchy in the country,” the minister said in the statement.

Private news channels were taken off air across the country on Saturday afternoon following the notification of Pemra which was issued at around 11am, barring live coverage of the operation.

Despite the warning, marathon coverage of stone pelting, tear gassing and skirmishes of police with rioters continued unabated. It led to countrywide protests in favour of the protesters, while public from the twin cities also started assembling around the sit-in venue.

In view of the precarious situation, the government took all the private TV channels off air while the state-run PTV was left for running for public access to news and updates.

The decision to take TV channels off air and block social media sites was widely condemned by journalists and cyber activists.

The Express Tribune

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Court moved against Pemra chief

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has been moved to order an action against Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) chairman Absar Alam for suspending the transmission of private news channels unlawfully regarding a police operation against the participants of Islamabad sit-in.

Amina Malik of the Civil Society Network made this request in a petition calling the act of Pemra’s chairman a clear violation of articles 19 and 19-A of the Constitution, which guarantee right to information.

The petitioner states the role of Pemra’s chairman has been partisan; it totally failed to function independently as required by the law. She says Pemra can only stop the channels from covering an event unless it amounts to defamation, contempt of court or hate-speech.

She says the appointment of Mr Alam as Pemra’s chief was also challenged before the high court for being made in violation laws.

The petitioner asks the court to declare the order of the media regulatory authority’s chairman as unlawful and order an action against him.

Teacher’s plea: The Lahore High Court issued on Monday a notice to the Punjab secretary of the school education department on a petition by a teacher allegedly terminated for being an Ahmadi.

Shaukat Rauf contended that he had been terminated without being given an opportunity of defence merely on complaint lodged by a fellow teacher. The petitioner said he was a true Muslim having firm believe in finality of prophethood of Muhammad (PBUH) and had PhD degree in Islamiat.

He pleaded that his point of view was not heard by the authorities in a departmental inquiry, which was in sheer violation of fundamental right of fair trial.

He said the court had directed the respondent secretary to decide his departmental appeal against the termination but the order had not been complied.

The petitioner said the secretary committed contempt of court by not implementing the order and was liable to be punished under the relevant law.

Justice Jawad Hassan heard the arguments and sought a reply from the respondent secretary in a fortnight.

DAWN