ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top court, on Tuesday, reinstated its ban on broadcasting Indian content on private television channels.
A three-member bench of the Supreme Court (SC), which was headed by Justice Gulzar, approved an appeal of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) against the Lahore High Court (LHC)’s verdict for hearing and suspended the high court’s decision. The top court suspended the permission granted by LHC to private television channels
Justice Gulzar wondered, “You people still want to watch the Indian content.”
PEMRA’s prosecutor said that policy introduced in 2006 allowed Pakistani channels to air only 10 per cent Indian content. However, he added, the telecast of the Indian content was conditioned with the telecast of Pakistani content on India’s television channels. Since India had imposed ban over Pakistani content, PEMRA in a tit for tat move banned Indian content on Pakistan’s channels, the counsel further argued.
During the hearing, Justice Aijazul Hasan remarked that LHC did not have any jurisdiction to intervene in the powers of the regulatory authority.
The bench then adjourned the hearing for an indefinite period.
On October 19, 2016, a three-member bench of the top court, headed by the then Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, had imposed a ban on airing Indian content on Pakistani television channels. During the hearing at the SC’s Karachi registry, he had also suspended an earlier high court decision of screening foreign content.
Nisar had then inquired, “Indian content must be banned as they are shutting down our dams. Should we not ban their channels?”
The top court had only allowed printable Indian content to be screened on Pakistani channels.
However, the LHC had lifted the ban and declared it null and void as the federal government had no objections regarding it in 2017.
Published in Daily Times, March 6th 2019.
