LHC CJ directs FIA to take action on anti-judiciary propaganda

LAHORE: Lahore High Court Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan on Thursday directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to take action against the persons involved in anti-judiciary propaganda on YouTube.

The CJ also directed the FIA to examine remarks and programmes aired on all television channels about the judiciary and submit a report. Earlier, a counsel for Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) told the court that licence of a television channel "Bol" was suspended for doing a contemptuous programme against the judiciary. However, he said, the channel obtained a stay from the Sindh High Court.

The CJ asked the Pemra’s counsel about the lawful boundaries of the freedom of expression in the country and the jurisdiction of the authority to take action if someone hurled abuses at the judiciary.

The counsel said Council of Complaint of the Pemra deals with such cases. He pointed out that the judiciary could not be discussed even in the parliament and the media was not an exception.

The CJ was hearing a petition against a strike/protest observed by public servants in support of former assistant commissioner of Sahiwal who was got handcuffed by a civil judge for defying a judicial order. The chief justice rejected a written reply submitted by former Assistant Commissioner Muhammad Haider as unsatisfactory.