The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday directed PEMRA to restore transmission of ARY NEWS on cable in an hour and warned action against the chairman of the regulatory authority in case of non-compliance.
Chief Justice IHC Athar Minallah led the proceedings of a petition against
the suspension of ARY NEWS transmission on cable. The administration of the
news channel and senior lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan also appeared before the court.
A PEMRA official appeared before the court and conveyed that they have not
suspended the transmission of the channel and blamed the cable operators for
it.
“Stop playing games with the court. There are 4,000 employees whose basic
rights are being violated with the suspension of the channel,” the judge
remarked. “If you didn’t close the channel then why you haven’t resumed its
transmission?” CJ Athar Minallah asked.
The PEMRA official conveyed that they have issued show-cause notice to the
cable operators. “Are you trying to say that cable operators are running the
country,” the CJ IHC remarked and directed the PEMRA official to restore the
channel on its previous position in an hour.
“If ARY NEWS is not restored in an hour then PEMRA chairman will have to
appear before the court on Monday,” the chief justice warned.
The IHC also directed secretary information and broadcasting to take actions
in this regard and appear before the court in person. The court later
adjourned the hearing for Monday.
On Thursday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) ordered Pakistan Electronic
Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to immediately restore ARY News
transmission.
The transmission of ARY News is suspended for last 23 days by PEMRA. The IHC
CJ in his ruling directed PEMRA to immediately restore ARY News transmission
as there is no written order about its closure.
