Why ARY News still off-air despite court orders, PEMRA statement?
It should be noted that yesterday the Sindh High Court had issued orders to immediately restore the broadcasting of ARY in the presence of lawyers on the statement of Pemra.
KARACHI: The private news channel ARY News is still off-air despite the court orders and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) statement to immediately restore it.
Yesterday, the Sindh High Court issued orders to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to immediately restore the broadcasting of ARY throughout the country, but the court orders have not yet been implemented. What are the powers that do not even give importance to the decisions of the judiciary?
The case related to the closure of ARY was heard in the Sindh High Court. The court, in the presence of Pemra’s lawyers and ARY’s lawyers, issued orders to restore the channel’s broadcast immediately.
In its order, the court also asked the cable operators across the country to resume broadcasting of ARY.
The court had directed the ARY management to submit its response to Pemra’s show cause by August 15.
During the hearing, Pemra’s lawyer said that Pemra has not issued instructions to stop broadcasting ARY News. On which the court inquired that if PEMRA did not stop the broadcast then why the broadcast is suspended, therefore it is ordered that the broadcast be restored immediately.
On this occasion, the lawyer of ARY News argued that neither there is any chairman of PEMRA nor there is a 12-member committee, the orders to close the channel were given verbally, we should be told that if the show cause notice is answered. So to whom should it be given?
The Sindh High Court has issued notices to PEMRA and DAG while adjourning the hearing till August 17.
It should be remembered that there are clear orders of the Islamabad High Court regarding the closure of channels or the change of numbers, but despite the court orders, Pemra has stopped the broadcast of ARY for two days, which is a clear violation of the court orders.
On the other hand, the Association of Electronic Media News Directors (AMND) and other journalistic organizations including the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) have also held protests in different cities of the country against the arrest of ARY News Director News Imad Yusuf and the closure of the channel.
Journalist organizations have threatened nationwide protests if ARY’s broadcasting is not resumed immediately.
Analysts say that yesterday the Sindh High Court issued orders regarding the restoration of ARY’s broadcast, but the broadcast has not been restored yet.
The question arises as to what unseen powers exist within the country that does not even care about court orders.
