Another petition has been moved in the Lahore High Court against a PEMRA [Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority] notification prohibiting the broadcasting of court proceedings. The plea filed through advocate Nadeem Sarwar by a citizen Mashkoor Hussain names the PEMRA, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting as well as the federation as respondents. The petitioner has alleged that the incumbent government was suppressing dissenting voices through the promulgation of what he referred to as “black laws”.

He argues that without a free press, democracy would perish. Earlier on Thursday, the PEMRA notification was challenged by advocate Samra Malik in the Lahore High Court and by the Press Association of Supreme Court (PAS) and the Islamabad High Court Journalists Association (IHCJA) in the Islamabad High Court. The petitioner contends that the decision of the Supreme Court the PEMRA based its notification on does not ban the broadcasting of court proceedings. He maintains that the PEMRA misconstrued the Supreme Court order. The petitioner has requested the court to strike down the notification declaring it illegal. On May 21, the PEMRA issued a notification to TV channels restricting the telecast of court proceedings. It instructed that the TV channels could only broadcast the written judgments of the courts.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan