The Lahore High Court on Thursday directed the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to hold its meeting in response to complaints received on contemptuous material being broadcast by television channels and submit a report by February 28. The court was hearing a petition against alleged contemptuous and anti-judiciary speeches of Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and other PML-N leaders.
Earlier, Pemra's counsel told the court that the authority received complaints against the speeches of PML-N leadership and added it would take action if recommended by the complaints council. The court observed that Pemra should have taken action itself without waiting for the recommendations of the council instead. The court directed the petitioner's counsel to transmit all the record of alleged contemptuous speeches to the Pemra's counsel and also asked the authority to convene a meeting on the matter and submit its report to the court on the next date of hearing.
Civil Society Network's convener Amina Malik through Azhar Siddique pleaded that that Nawaz Sharif had started a campaign against the state institutions since his disqualification in the Panama case. He said Maryam Nawaz also joined the campaign of her father. The lawyer further said that the former premier and his daughter had not been criticizing judgments of the apex court but directly trying to scandalize judges. He said the respondents seriously marked scratches on integrity of the judges. He asked the court to direct Pemra to ban the broadcast of hate speeches by the respondents.
He also sought suspension of the licenses of television channels for airing hate material and derogatory remarks against the state institutions.
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