The petition, filed by Advocate Samra Malik, has named PEMRA, the federal government, and the information secretary as defendants in the case.
The petitioner argued that Pemra’s prohibition on court reporting constituted a breach of the constitutional provisions outlined in Articles 19 and 19-A. She implored the court to invalidate the notification from the media regulatory agency until a final decision is made on the case.
The petition is filed two days after the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority issued a directive to news networks, prohibiting the broadcast of any content related to ‘ongoing court cases’ until a final verdict is delivered.
The media regulatory authority has enforced a prohibition on reporting news related to cases that are currently being decided by a court, and has instructed television broadcasters to only broadcast information that is of importance to the general public.
PEMRA further instructed the media outlets to refrain from expressing their ‘subjective views on situations that are under judicial consideration’. Furthermore, it cautioned against engaging in discussions about ongoing court cases on television programmes in a manner that could potentially “influence” investigations or the trial.
The regulating authority has stressed that only material that is considered essential for the public will be permitted to be distributed through media outlets.
