Pemra recommends Rs50,000 fine on private channel

ISLAMABAD: The Council of Complaints of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) on Sunday recommended imposition of Rs 50,000 fine on Channel 24 for its non-serious attitude towards the council.

The council took this decision in its 68th meeting held at the Pemra Regional Office Lahore with Dr Mehdi Hassan in the chair. The council disposed of a complaint of Qazi Muhammad Iqbal against Channel 24 and ARY News for “airing baseless news against the complainant”. The complaint of cricketer Muhammad Hafeez against Geo TV and Jaag TV was disposed of due to non-appearance of the complainant. The council directed the channels to apologize for levelling allegations against Pakistan cricket team players.

The matter of ARY News airing comments about the legacy of the chief of army staff in the programme Power Play dated 11/11/2016 was adjourned at the request of ARY News till the council next meeting.

Hearing the matter regarding the health condition, seniority and age of the late Sindh governor justice (retd) Saeeduzzaman Siddique in the programme Khabardar dated 12/11/2016, the council directed Express News to tender apology in the same programme and disposed of the matter.

The hearing of a complaint of Ch Arshad Ali against Dunya TV was adjourned till the final decision of the Lahore High Court. In the matter of Ms Mub Global (Pvt) Ltd, the council granted a final opportunity to clear all outstanding dues within 15 days. In case of non-compliance, the council recommended licence cancellation and disposed of the matter.

Council members including Dr Sughra Sadaf, Dr Mubashar Nadeem, Dr Lubna Zaheer, Iftikhar Ahmad Tarar, Fauzia Viqar and Dr M Safdar Rehman attended the meeting.