The Sindh High Court has taken decisive action against the ban imposed by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), resulting in the suspension of the prohibition on broadcasting speeches made by Imran Khan, the chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). The court expressed dissatisfaction with the absence of the federal government’s legal representative, leading to this significant decision regarding the ban imposed on airing the PTI chairman’s speeches.
It is noteworthy that PEMRA had instituted the ban on airing Imran Khan’s statements and speeches on May 31, 2023. The prohibition order alleged that Imran was disseminating “baseless allegations and hate speech through provocative statements against state institutions and officers,” posing a threat to law and order and public peace and tranquility.
PEMRA argued that airing such content constituted a violation of Article 19 of the Constitution and a judgment of the Supreme Court. The media regulator emphasized that TV channels had broadcasted this content without effectively utilizing the time-delay mechanism, violating both PEMRA laws and judgments of the apex courts.
In a related development, an Islamabad accountability court issued arrest warrants for Imran Khan in the Toshakhana and 190-million-pound Al-Qadir Trust cases. The court instructed the jail superintendent to take legal steps to ensure compliance with the warrant. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) sought the immediate arrest of the former prime minister, and compliance with the warrants is expected in jail today.
In a separate matter, Bushra Bibi, the former first lady, was presented with an 11-question questionnaire by NAB in the Al-Qadir Trust case during her appearance at the NAB office. The questions included inquiries about her relations with Farah Gogi, the reasons for creating Al-Qadir Trust, her educational background in jurisprudence or pedagogy, her continued benefits from Al-Qadir Trust as a teacher, her satisfaction with Farah Gogi’s financial affairs, and any involvement of Malik Riaz in Al-Qadir Trust. Bushra Bibi had appeared at the NAB Rawalpindi office in response to a summons related to the 190 million-pound case.
