ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed dissatisfaction over the media coverage of the Lahore High Court (LHC) judgment and said the verdict did not bar former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz from delivering speeches.
A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan, heard suo moto notice of the media headlines, portraying that the LHC had banned telecast of speeches of Nawaz and Maryam. The chief justice said Nawaz and Maryam could “come and deliver speeches here [apex court]” and clarified that the learned high court did not ban Nawaz and Maryam from making speeches and had only directed the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to stop hate speeches, aspersions against the judiciary and judges of the superior judiciary in the spirit of articles 19 and 68 of the Constitution. “Hats off to the learned high court for giving such a good judgment,” the chief justice remarked after terming the news published and aired by the media as fake, as he asked the attorney general to investigate the source of the story.
The chief justice said the LHC had only ordered Pemra to enforce the law, adding that the court would not curtail fundamental rights and it never stopped anyone from healthy criticism. “I don’t accept that the reporters covering the LHC judgment proceedings in the instant case have made mistake but somebody has planted this news”, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed observed, adding that it was managed and spread systematically.
“This is a classic example of manoeuvring as not one or two newspapers or channels published and aired but the whole media misreported the judgment,” Justice Azmat remarked. “This is clearly an attack on the judiciary,” Justice Ijaz observed.
A day earlier, the LHC gave the decision on over two dozen petitions filed against the alleged “anti-judiciary” speeches by Nawaz, Maryam, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and other party leaders. The chief justice asked Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf to read out para 9 of the LHC judgment. The LHC in its judgment ruled that there was a rise in gross violation of articles 19 and 68 of the Constitution and the Code of Conduct issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for politicians.
“We deem it appropriate to issue direction to Pemra to stop all hate speeches/aspersions against the institutions of judiciary and judges of the superior judiciary in the spirit of articles 19 and 68 of the Constitution,” the LHC ruled in its verdict.
At the outset of hearing, the court asked Ishfaq Jamani, a Pemra member, who is also looking after the affairs of chairman, as to whether the regulator has taken any action over twisting the LHC order by the media. The official replied that the authority had monitored the news and notices were being issued to media outlets.
The chief justice also inquired as to from where thesaid news was drafted. Meanwhile, the court in its order noted that a false impression was intentionally created amongst the general public by such news reports as well as panel discussions that Pemra had been directed to stop broadcast of speeches of Nawaz and Maryam. The court noted that it was categorically stated that the learned high court had banned airing of anti-judiciary speeches by a large number of persons, including Nawaz and Maryam. “A false impression was also sought to be created that the fundamental right to freedom of speech enjoyed by all citizens and guaranteed by the Constitution has been curtailed, restricted or diminished through the said order,” the court ruled.
The court observed that after summoning the LHC order and carefully going through the same, the said order indicated that Pemra had been directed to implement the law in terms of Article 19 of the Constitution read with Section 27 of the Pemra Ordinance, 2002 and Section 2(j) of the Electronic Media (Programmes and Advertisements) Code of Conduct, 2015. “Further, Pemra has been directed to decide various applications moved by a number of applicants for enforcement of law against hate speech within a period of 15 days.”
The court observed that there was nothing in the order which even remotely directed or obligated Pemra to ban Nawaz and Maryam Safdar or anybody else. “The media speculation, panel discussions and press reports appearing on various channels and media outlets and in various newspapers today are incorrect, baseless and unsubstantiated”, the court ruled, adding that the opinions, verbal or in writing, had clearly and obviously been expressed without even reading the contents of the LHC order. The court observed that after confronting the attorney general as well as the learned counsel appearing on behalf of Pemra if the order in question in any manner imposes a ban, embargo or restriction on Nawaz, Maryam or anybody else, “they have frankly conceded that this is not the case and the contents of the order do not support any such conclusion”.
“They agree and acknowledge without any reservation whatsoever that as guardians of the Constitution and custodians of fundamental rights the superior courts of the country are mandated and obligated to ensure that fundamental rights are protected and enforced with full force and vigour with all their manifestations and strictly in accordance with the letter and spirit of the Constitution and the law”, the court ruled in its order. The court said it had also issued notices to Nawaz and Maryam and had directed the attorney general to convey the same to the said persons to enable them to arrange their representation. “None has appeared on their behalf,” it added.
The court held that learned counsel, appearing on behalf of other respondents and the attorney general, after going through the order, agree that there is nothing in the order that can even remotely be interpreted to mean or imply that a ban has been imposed on the said persons or taking them off-air.
“All learned counsel unanimously agree that as the regulator for electronic media, it is the duty of Pemra to enforce the law as provided in Section 27 of the Ordinance, 2002 read with Section 2(j) of the Code of Conduct ibid and the order in question merely reiterates the said position,” the court held.
The court, after expressing satisfaction over the LHC order, ruled that the order does not in any way curb, restrict, curtail or diminish the fundamental right of freedom of speech as enshrined in Article 19 of the Constitution and merely directs Pemra to enforce the law which it is obliged to do and decide the applications pending before it relating to hate speech against any and all organs of the state.
Earlier in the day, the apex court had issued notices to Pemra and also sought the record of the LHC order after taking notice of the news reports. The court also directed the attorney general to find out when Nawaz and Maryam are available so they or their counsels can appear for the hearing. During the hearing, the court asked Salman Akram Raja, counsel for Pemra, as to what he had told the court regarding the action taken by the authority in response of different complaints lodged with. The chief justice while admonishing Raja observed that he has already appeared before the courts as counsel for the Sharif family in various cases, then how could he represent the view points of Pemra being controlled by the incumbent government.
During the hearing, the chief justice said that they don’t need any protection from the government adding that they cannot forget the other day incident wherein some women were brought in at the gate of the apex court, chanting slogans against the judiciary. “What could be more insult of this court after that incident?” the chief justice questioned. Meanwhile, the court directed Pemra to take action on the complaints against PML-N leaders in 15 days, as stated in the LHC order, and disposed off the suo motu proceedings.
