The Supreme Court (SC) registrar office on Saturday rejected a constitutional petition seeking live coverage of apex court proceedings on matters of public concern. The SC registrar, since the appointment of Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, has not entertained any constitutional petition.
On March 10, an executive member of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) Raheel Kamran Sheikh lodged the petition under Article 184(3) of the Constitution. However, the SC registrar office rejected the plea objecting that the petitioner had failed to provide adequate justification. The petitioner further requested the apex court to issue appropriate directions to respondents for broadcasting SC proceedings, particularly suo motu actions which are taken under Article 184 of the Constitution for the enforcement of fundamental rights guaranteed by Articles 9, 10A, 19A, and Article 25 of the Constitution. Sheikh further argued that a ban on live broadcast shall be a violation of Article 19A of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to information to all citizens.
Published in Daily Times, March 17th 2019.
