Supreme Court bans Shahid Masood’s TV programme for three months

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday banned TV anchor Shahid Masood’s programme on a private news channel for three months in Zainab murder case.

The TV anchor had in January claimed in his show that Imran Ali, killer of Kasur’s Zainab is a member of international child pornography gang having connections with a senior Punjab politician.

Dr Masood also claimed that the suspect had 37 foreign accounts. However, his claims about the bank accounts were rejected by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in its report to the JIT that was formed earlier by the Punjab government to probe the rape and murder of Zainab.

Later, the SC-appointed investigation team also declared that the anchor’s claims are false.

When the hearing resumed today, Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar reprimanded the anchor over his continued tirade against a court officer.

The bench rejected Dr Masood's apology, observing that the anchor had himself stated earlier that he could be hanged, in case his claims are proven false. However, the court is only banning his programme for three months as for now.

We have to see which law should be implemented in this regard, the CJP remarked.