ISLAMABAD:
The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) on Tuesday
witnessed a bizarre gathering of three of its members before its
headquarters that announced the cancellation of three Geo licences, a
move that was promptly disowned by the authority.
The three members — Israr Abbasi, Mian Shams and Fareeha Iftikhar — recommended the cancellation of the licences of Geo News, Geo Tez and Geo Entertainment for what they termed the violation of the authority’s rules.
“How can three private members of Pemra convene a meeting on their own? It is not a matter of likes and dislikes but of legality and hence such a meeting can’t hold any ground whatsoever, what to talk of any decision it took,” asserted one Pemra member while talking to The News here. He was present during the authority’s last meeting.
“Pemra disowns the decisions announced by its three members regarding the cancellation of Geo’s licenses. The majority authority members in the 95th meeting held on May 9, 2014, had decided to refer the case to the Ministry of Law for legal opinion. The decision of seeking opinion from the Law Division was taken in all fairness to avoid any future legal consequences on such a critical issue,” a Pemra spokesperson said late night in a statement.
A complaint against Geo Entertainment has already been referred to the Council of Complaints Sindh. The CoC in its Tuesday meeting has already made a recommendation about the status of Geo’s license.
“The minutes of the CoC are awaited and the authority will consider this matter in the next scheduled meeting,” the spokesman said.The statement also clarified that the three members called the meeting without following the laid-down procedure and thus it had no legal standing.
According to Rule 3(4) of the Pemra Rules 2009, the chairman, or as the case may be, more than half of the total members (at least seven out of 12 members) can call a meeting.This was an informal meeting attended by five members. The executive member was not even asked to officially convene the meeting and notify it through the secretary to the authority which is the set procedure.
“The meeting convened by these members is without any official intimation or invitation to other members in accordance with the procedure,” he said.The authority committee is functioning and is exercising the power of the chairman in day to day affairs and taking decisions with the requisite quorum.
Israr Abbasi, being a member of the authority committee, had distanced himself from Pemra’s previous meeting.Talking to media persons after the meeting, Mian Shams and Israr Abbasi said they had recommended the cancellation of the licenses of Geo News, Geo Tez and Geo Entertainment Channel for violating the authority’s rules. They said since legality was to be fulfilled, they referred their recommendations to the Council of Complaints and asked it to report back before May 28.
They said a final decision on the Geo issue would be made in the May 28 meeting. They said both the army and ISI had ‘shown restraint’ and a complaint was filed against Geo, following a legal course on the matter.
It is interesting to note that during the media talk Abbasi claimed to be a member of the PPP, a claim that was rejected by the PPP veteran Senator Mian Raza Rabbani during Geo’s show ‘Aaj Kamran Khan Kay Sath’.
The three members — Israr Abbasi, Mian Shams and Fareeha Iftikhar — recommended the cancellation of the licences of Geo News, Geo Tez and Geo Entertainment for what they termed the violation of the authority’s rules.
“How can three private members of Pemra convene a meeting on their own? It is not a matter of likes and dislikes but of legality and hence such a meeting can’t hold any ground whatsoever, what to talk of any decision it took,” asserted one Pemra member while talking to The News here. He was present during the authority’s last meeting.
“Pemra disowns the decisions announced by its three members regarding the cancellation of Geo’s licenses. The majority authority members in the 95th meeting held on May 9, 2014, had decided to refer the case to the Ministry of Law for legal opinion. The decision of seeking opinion from the Law Division was taken in all fairness to avoid any future legal consequences on such a critical issue,” a Pemra spokesperson said late night in a statement.
A complaint against Geo Entertainment has already been referred to the Council of Complaints Sindh. The CoC in its Tuesday meeting has already made a recommendation about the status of Geo’s license.
“The minutes of the CoC are awaited and the authority will consider this matter in the next scheduled meeting,” the spokesman said.The statement also clarified that the three members called the meeting without following the laid-down procedure and thus it had no legal standing.
According to Rule 3(4) of the Pemra Rules 2009, the chairman, or as the case may be, more than half of the total members (at least seven out of 12 members) can call a meeting.This was an informal meeting attended by five members. The executive member was not even asked to officially convene the meeting and notify it through the secretary to the authority which is the set procedure.
“The meeting convened by these members is without any official intimation or invitation to other members in accordance with the procedure,” he said.The authority committee is functioning and is exercising the power of the chairman in day to day affairs and taking decisions with the requisite quorum.
Israr Abbasi, being a member of the authority committee, had distanced himself from Pemra’s previous meeting.Talking to media persons after the meeting, Mian Shams and Israr Abbasi said they had recommended the cancellation of the licenses of Geo News, Geo Tez and Geo Entertainment Channel for violating the authority’s rules. They said since legality was to be fulfilled, they referred their recommendations to the Council of Complaints and asked it to report back before May 28.
They said a final decision on the Geo issue would be made in the May 28 meeting. They said both the army and ISI had ‘shown restraint’ and a complaint was filed against Geo, following a legal course on the matter.
It is interesting to note that during the media talk Abbasi claimed to be a member of the PPP, a claim that was rejected by the PPP veteran Senator Mian Raza Rabbani during Geo’s show ‘Aaj Kamran Khan Kay Sath’.
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