ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has suspended a ban on the live broadcast of former prime minister Imran Khan’s addresses, issued earlier this month by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA).
Chief Justice Athar Minallah, after taking up the matter on an application moved by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chair on Monday, observed the electronic media watchdog “exceeded its authority” in imposing the ban and directed the body to appoint an officer who could justify the suspension in a court of law.
Barristers Syed Ali Zafar represented Khan during the hearing headed by Justice Minallah. During the proceedings, he argued that Khan was scheduled to conduct a live telethon tonight to generate funds for flood victims and, therefore, sought the lifting of the ban.
After hearing the arguments, the judge suspended the notification and issued notices to PEMRA and Ashtar Ausaf Ali, the attorney general.
Khan has regularly addressed large anti-government rallies of his opposition party since his ouster from power in a contentious no-confidence vote in April.
On August 20, hours after he spoke at a massive rally in Islamabad, the agency ordered television networks to not show his live speeches in future. It, however, allowed the airing of pre-recorded speeches.
The directive followed the speech in which he vowed to sue the chief of Islamabad police and a junior judge and alleged that his chief of staff, Shehbaz Gill, had been tortured after his arrest.
PERMA asserted in its statement that Khan was “leveling baseless allegations and spreading hate speech through his provocative statements against state institutions and officers.”
Khan addressed another big rally in Rawalpindi the following day to reiterate his criticism. But the speech was not broadcast live and authorities also blocked YouTube to disrupt the speech.
“The fascist imported [government] sunk to a new low today by banning live coverage of my speeches on TV [and] then blocking YouTube temporarily during my speech at Liaquat Bagh,” Khan tweeted after the rally.
All this after continuous intimidation of media persons and taking channels off the air earlier.”
The fascist Imported govt sunk to a new low today by banning live coverage of my speeches on TV & then blocking YouTube temporarily during my speech at Liaquat Bagh. All this after continuous intimidation of mediapersons & taking channels off air earlier.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) August 21, 2022
“This is not only a gross violation of freedom of speech but also negatively affects the digital media industry and the livelihoods of many,” he added.
