The Sindh High Court has taken action against the ban imposed by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) on broadcasting speeches made by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan, and suspended the prohibition.
The court also expressed dissatisfaction with the absence of the federal government’s legal representative.
It should be remembered that the media watchdog had imposed a ban on airing former prime minister Imran Khan’s statements and speeches on May 31.
The prohibition order stated that Imran was "levelling baseless allegations and spreading hate speech through his provocative statements against state institutions and officers which is prejudicial to the maintenance of law and order and is likely to disturb public peace and tranquillity”.
PEMRA had said the airing of hateful, slanderous and unwarranted statements against state institutions is “in sheer violation of Article 19 of the Constitution and a judgment of the Supreme Court”.
It has been observed that such content was telecasted by TV channels without effective utilisation of time-delay mechanism in violation of provisions of PEMRA laws as well as judgments of the apex courts, the media regulator added.
Earlier on Monday, the Islamabad accountability court had issued arrest warrants for PTI Chairman Imran Khan in the Toshakhana and 190-million-pound Al-Qadir Trust cases. The court also ordered the jail superintendent to take legal steps to ensure compliance with the warrant.
The NAB filed an application to comply with the arrest warrant of the PTI chief. On being asked what the high court did in the case, the prosecutor said the court neither suspended the order nor issued a standing order. He also sought that warrants be issued and the jail superintendent be directed to take action.
The NAB also sought the immediate arrest of the former prime minister. The warrants are expected to be complied with in jail today. Imran Khan will be provided with a copy of the warrant as well as briefed about the reasons for his arrest.
Moreover, the NAB also provided Bushra Bibi an 11-question questionnaire in the Al-Qadir Trust case.
During her appearance in the NAB office, Bushra Bibi was questioned about Farah Gogi.
The questionnaire given to her also included queries about her relations with Farah Gogi, the reasons for creating Al-Qadir Trust, whether she took any courses in jurisprudence or pedagogy, whether she continued to receive benefits from Al-Qadir Trust as a teacher, whether she was satisfied with Farah Gogi's financial affairs, whether Malik Riaz himself showed interest in Al-Qadir Trust, or whether she contacted him.
The former first lady had appeared in the NAB Rawalpindi office on being summoned in the 190 million-pound case.
