The Islamabad High Court (IHC) directed the information and law ministries on Saturday to submit a report on steps taken to ensure the protection of journalists across Pakistan.
In a brief order by Chief Justice Athar Minallah, the high court asked the information secretary as well as the law secretary to submit their response pertaining to the problems faced by journalists within two weeks. In the order, the high court said there was no effective legislation to ensure the security of media workers. The order said that the petitioner invoked articles 9, 14, and 19-A of the constitution to raise these questions of public interest in the plea.
“The court was informed that ensuring the security of media workers and fundamental rights were interlinked,” the order added.
During the case, the high court was apprised that at least 40,000 cases were currently pending in the Implementation Tribunal for Newspapers Employees (ITNE). The IHC order directed the ITNE to submit a report on the cases pending with it.
