LAHORE: Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday sustained an office objection to a petition of PTI chief Imran Khan challenging a ban imposed by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) on the broadcast of his speeches and press talks.

The registrar office had questioned the unavailability of impugned notification of Pemra with the petition. The judge upheld the objection and dismissed the petition.

The Pemra had imposed a ban after Imran Khan lashed out at former army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa for, what he called, protecting incumbent rulers in their alleged corruption cases. The petitioner through his counsel argued that Pemra had issued the impugned order in excess of its jurisdiction without having regard to the constitutional rights guaranteed under Articles 19 and 19-A of the Constitution. He said the prohibition order appears to be in violation of principle of proportionality. He argued that the impugned ban is liable to be set aside for being in violation of Article 10-A of the Constitution.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023