Despite Pemra orders, Geo not yet fully restored

 

ISLAMABAD: Despite the clear orders of the Supreme Court (SC) and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), Geo News is still not accessible to a large number of viewers across the country, putting a big question mark on the writ of the government and rule of law in the country.
Reports from across the country suggest that hidden forces are preventing the restoration of Pakistan’s most popular channel even after the written directives of Pemra issued after the expiry of the 15-day ban on June 20, 2014.

In another blatant violation of the Supreme Court order, the channel numbers of Geo News and other members of Geo family including Geo Tez, Geo Super and Geo Kahani have been changed illegally.

The apex court, while disposing of Geo News petition on May 26, directed Pemra to restore Geo News on its original position but the channel is either completely blocked or placed on last numbers where signal quality is too poor to show the clear transmission.

On the other hand, while Pemra has imposed one-month suspension on Geo Entertainment for showing blasphemous content, it has taken no action against other channels which aired the same content in their morning shows. A private channel has even reproduced the same content repeatedly but Pemra has turned a blind eye towards the issue. It seems that Pemra has become a helpless regulator as it has failed to ensure implementation of its orders in letter and spirit.

On June 20, Pemra suspended the licence of a private TV channel for 15 days for airing anti-judiciary programmes but the authority could not fully implement the orders and the transmission continued in violation of law. Four days later, Sindh High Court (SHC) restored the transmission of the private channel and it was back on air immediately.

But the same could not happen in case of Geo News. The authority had suspended the licence of Geo News for fifteen days on June 5. The channel respected the law and suspended transmissions in Pakistan on the same day.

Upon completion of the suspension period on June 20, Pemra forwarded the notification of restoration of Geo News to all its regional offices with direction that the country’s cable operators should obey the order of the Supreme Court according to which the position of Geo News on cable TV network should be the same as was in the second week of April, 2014.

However the directions of authority were not taken seriously by the cable operators in several parts of the country.The management of Geo News has already suffered huge financial losses worth billions for illegal blockade and repositioning of Geo and other channels of the family including Geo Tez, Geo Kahani and Geo Super.

Geo facing blockage despite Pemra orders: CPJ

ISLAMABAD: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has declared that the Pakistan government had failed to fulfill its commitment on the seven basic points agreed with the world journalistic body a few months ago in order to ensure the freedom of the media.

The CPJ expressed its deep concern about the deteriorating climate for press freedom in Pakistan, which undermines the recent commitments made by the government. The body also urged the government to reinstate Geo in the country.

The CPJ in its letter written to the Prime Minister of Pakistan urged him to follow his pledges to address media freedoms with meaningful action. In its letter, the CPJ reminded the prime minister and the government of fulfilling the promises that they made to the CPJ’s delegation.

“Since our meetings, conditions for journalists working in Pakistan have drastically deteriorated. In April 2014, gunmen shot Geo News senior anchor Hamid Mir. Mir survived the attack but sustained wounds to his abdomen and pelvis”.

Similarly, the next month, two foreign journalists were expelled from the country after being told their visas would not be renewed.The Hindu correspondent Meena Menon and Snehesh Alex Philip, correspondent for the Press Trust of India, left Pakistan within seven days.

“On May 20, some members of Pakistan’s Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) announced that licenses for Geo News, Geo Entertainment and Geo Tez, channels under the Geo TV Network, had been suspended. Later that day, Pemra issued a press release saying the order had “no legal standing” since the meeting had been attended by only five of its 12 members, the CPJ stated in its letter.

Zafar Aheer, an editor of Daily Jang, was beaten by six armed men as he was returning home from work on June 3. The assailants confiscated his phone and fired shots around his car before fleeing. Aheer told BBC Urdu that the assailants accused employees of the Jang group of being traitors, Jews, and Indian agents. He also said he had received death threats in connection with his affiliation to the media group.

The staffers at The News—including Umar Cheema, who wrote critically about the attack on Mir—have received threats. Vans carrying Jang’s newspapers have been torched in Lahore, Lodhran, and Rawalpindi.

Expressing its severe concerns about the behavior of cable operators on the Geo News issue, the CJP states, “On June 6, Geo News was fined and given a 15-day suspension by Pemra. The channel went from providing news to millions of people to a blank screen. Pemra allowed the channel to begin rebroadcast after 15 days, but news reports said cable operators were continuing to block the channel”.

On June 20, Pemra suspended Geo Entertainment’s license for 30 days and ARY News’ license for 15 days and imposed on each outlet fines of 10 million rupees. News reports said Geo was banned for “insulting the religious sentiments of viewers” in one of its morning shows, and ARY was banned for “bringing the high courts into disrepute” in connection with a critical programme.

This sets a very dangerous precedent and opens the door for future attempts to shut down news channels that are critical of the state and its agencies. More than 7,500 people are employed by Geo, and their livelihoods and safety are directly affected by the threats to Geo.

The CPJ called on the government to reinstate Geo’s ability to operate and broadcast in the country and it should ensure journalists at all news outlets are able to work safely and freely in Pakistan.

The international body for journalists further urged the constitution of a joint government-media commission to review anti-press attacks and improve security. This would be a great step toward improving the climate for press freedom in Pakistan.

The CPJ further reminded the government of recognising the scope of the crisis that journalists face in Pakistan and the damage that the country’s record of impunity in the murder of journalists has done to its international reputation.

Geo News resumption: Cable operators continue to defy PEMRA, SC orders

KARACHI: Cable operators continued to defy the orders of Pakistan Electronic Media Regularity Authority (PEMRA) and Supreme Court pertaining to the restoration of Geo Network channels across Pakistan.

The channel’s transmission had earlier been suspended on June 6, 2014 on the complaint filed by the Ministry of Defence. A fine of Rs10 million had also been imposed on the channel.

A notification (dated June 20, 2014) issued by PEMRA states that Geo News is allowed to resume transmission at 12am on June 21, 2014, however, cable operators have claimed that they have not received any such notification and continued to defy PEMRA and Supreme Court orders.

The notification directs all the regional offices to direct distribution networks in their respective regions to begin relaying Geo News at the above mentioned time and date.

A special reference has also been made to the orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The order states:

2. The grievance of the applicant, as raised by its senior counsel, was that the PEMRA was not abiding by the report of Mediator and the subsequent orders passed by this Court on it. Raja Muhammad Ibrahim Satti, learned Sr. ASC for PEMRA was present in the Court as a Caveator along with Mr. Zahid Malik, Head of Legal Department, PEMRA, and on instructions from Mr. Zahid Malik, Raja Muhammad Ibrahim Satti, learned Sr. ASC stated that the PEMRA shall abide by the terms of order dated 13.08.2012 passed in Constitution Petition No.51 of 2010, by which the report of Mr. Javed Jabbar, the Mediator, was made part of the said order and that the PEMRA will ensure that there is no shifting of the channels contrary to or in violation of the order dated 13.08.2012

The PEMRA notification directs all regional general managers to strictly comply with the above quoted orders by directing all distribution networks to restore Geo News to its original position to avoid any contempt of proceedings in the Supreme Court.

ARY News, which was suspended by PEMRA on Saturday, continued to be relayed by cable operators on their networks.

PEMRA suspends ARY license

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority has suspended licence of ARY TV channel for airing anti-judiciary programs besides slapping it with Rs10 million fine.

The media watchdog has also banned ARY’s talk show Khara Sach and its host Mubashir Lucman.

Treason charge: Geo/Jang Group serves Rs50 bn notice on govt, ISI, Pemra

 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s most popular and most loved media group Geo and Jang Group has served a legal notice on the Ministry of Defence, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) for defaming and maligning the group by accusing it of working on an anti-Pakistan agenda, inciting and fuelling violence against the group, pressuring cable operators to black out Geo channels, the failure of Pemra to get the Supreme Court order to restore Geo channels implemented, and has asked all to publicly apologise within 14 days and pay damages of Rs50 billion.
In its legal notice, the group — which played a role in the Pakistan Movement, in the creation of Pakistan and came into existence much before these institutions — has alleged that because of the uncalled for, baseless allegations of being traitors and furthering an anti-Pakistan agenda, more than 8,000 journalists, workers and professionals attached to the group and their families are not only being harassed but also attacked and tortured across Pakistan.

Geo and the Jang Group have served the notice on the Federation of Pakistan and the ISI through the Ministry of Defence and on Pemra and have demanded that all must publicly apologise to the group and all its workers and their families for levelling absolutely baseless, wrong and shameful allegations without any proof and endangering the lives of thousands of professionals attached with the group.

The lawyers of the Geo and Jang group have made it clear in categorical and the strongest terms in the legal notice served on the ISI and Pemra that the group shall initiate appropriate legal proceedings against all of them in a court of competent jurisdiction for direct damage to repute caused to their clients (Geo and Jang Group and its workers) and also actual losses that they are suffering on a daily basis.

The legal notice served by Geo and the Jang Group on the Ministry of Defence, ISI and Pemra on June 5, 2014 reads;“Legal notice under section 8 of defamation ordinance, 2002.”“We, on behalf and instructions of the Independent Media Corporation (Pvt) Limited (IMC), Independent Newspaper Corporation (Pvt) Limited (INCL), News Publications (Pvt) Limited (NPL), Independent Music Group (Pvt) Limited (IMG), (hereinafter referred to as ‘our clients’) are writing to address you as follows:

“1. That together all our clients along with dozens of other companies from the ‘Jang/Geo Group’, the leading electronic and print media group of Pakistan broadcasting TV channels with the highest rating namely ‘Geo News’, ‘Geo Entertainment’, ‘Geo Tez’, ‘Geo Kahani’ and ‘Geo Super’. The Jang Group also publishes newspapers having the widest circulation in Pakistan namely “Daily Jang” and “The News”.

“2. That our clients are actively involved in the field of journalism, making and broadcasting national/international news, articles, interviews, mega events and current affairs and are considered as the most reliable sources of information by the public at large and enjoy an incontrovertible, overwhelming, unequivocal and an unparalleled reputation both at the national and international level.

“3. That on 19.4.2014, one of the leading columnists and anchorpersons of Pakistan, Hamid Mir, who is associated with our clients, was attacked in Karachi. In the environment of extreme tension and under tremendous pressure of the family of Hamid Mir, our clients’ channel Geo News broadcast a statement of Hamid Mir’s brother Amir Mir.

“4. That subsequent to the above, ISI sent a complaint to the Ministry of Defence which without even providing any evidence/proof, contained baseless and untrue allegations that “Geo Network has a history of acting illegally in furtherance of anti Pakistan agenda.”

“5. That upon receipt of the complaint of ISI, the Ministry of Defence immediately without verification of the allegations levelled in it, forwarded the said complaint containing the allegations regarding our clients having a history of acting on an anti-Pakistan agenda, as it is, to Pemra seeking immediate suspension and cancellation of Geo News’ licence.

“6. That after receiving the above complaints from the ISI through the Ministry of Defence, Pemra too, without seeking any proof/evidence of anti-Pakistani activities of our clients, issued a show cause notice to our clients, accusing them of being involved in anti-Pakistan activities.

“7. That the show-cause notice of Pemra was distributed all over Pakistan including the media of Pakistan that has caused great reputational loss to our clients.

“8. That despite our clients’ various requests to the ISI, the Ministry of Defence and Pemra to provide them evidence on the basis of which such a heinous allegation was levelled by them against our clients, no proof/evidence has been provided to them so far.

“9. That all of you have thus defamed our clients by levelling such false statements to injure their reputation, to lower them in the estimation of others and to reduce them to ridicule, unjust criticism, dislike, contempt or hatred against which this statutory notice is being served to all of you.

“10. That in addition to the reputational loss that our clients have suffered at your hands, this false and malicious allegation due to the current tense political situation in the country, was deliberately aimed at provoking and inciting the masses to engage in physical violence against our clients and thousands of their employees including journalists, putting all their lives at serious risk. You have succeeded in achieving the purpose of the false allegations as soon after having levelled them a smear campaign against our clients has also been started on the ground that our clients are traitors/anti-Pakistan.

“11. That due to your illegal threats and pressure on the cable operators of the country, they first shuffled/showed on last number of the spectrum, the transmission of our clients’ channels, ‘Geo News’, ‘Geo Entertainment’, ‘Geo Kahani’ and ‘Geo Tez’ and now the transmission of these channels have been completely suspended throughout the country.

“12. That similarly, distribution of our clients’ newspapers has also been disturbed/banned in different parts of the country. The newspapers’ distribution vans of our clients are being set ablaze on a daily basis and the employees of our clients have also been threatened and tortured in various parts of the country, on the pretext that our clients are Anti-Pakistan.

“13. That despite our clients’ repeated requests, Pemra and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in utter violation of the statutory provisions have failed to restore the transmission of Geo News and other channels of our clients on their previous position.

“14. That in the above background, our clients have approached the Supreme Court of Pakistan. On 26.05.2014, the Supreme Court disposed of our clients’ application on the basis of Pemra’s counsel, Ibrahim Satti and Pemra’s head legal department, Zahid Malik’s undertaking that Pemra “shall abide by the terms of order dated 13.08.2012 passed in Constitution Petition No 51 of 2010, by which the report of Javed Jabbar, the mediator, was made part of the said order and that the Pemra will ensure that there is no shifting of the channels contrary to or in violation of the order dated 13.08.2012.

“15. That it is, however, regretfully noted that despite clear direction of the Supreme Court, Pemra has till to date not ensured implementation of the SC order in letter and spirit which shows that all of you, in collusion to each other, are bent upon damaging our clients.

“16. That due to your illegal actions, our clients are on a daily basis suffering huge financial loss as transmission of their channels has been illegally suspended and distribution of their newspapers has also been disturbed due to which they are not receiving any advertisements.

“17. That we on behalf of our clients request you to immediately provide our clients all the documentary evidence/proof in support of your allegations that our clients are involved in anti-Pakistani activities.

“18. That in view of the foregoing, our clients having no other option hereby call upon all of you to do the following within 14 days of this legal notice:

i. To stop levelling such defamatory statements;

ii. To broadcast or publish retraction or clarification for accusing our clients as traitors or anti-Pakistan;

iii. To publish an apology in a newspaper and make one through a TV interview in the same manner and in the same prominence;

iv. To restore the transmission of our clients’ channels ‘Geo News’, ‘Geo Entertainment’, ‘Geo Kahani’ and ‘Geo Tez’ to their previous positions all over Pakistan;

v. Not to harass cable operators to illegally suspend the transmissions of our clients’ channels;

vi. Though the defamation caused is immeasurable in monetary terms however, to pay our clients direct reputational damage and actual damage that come around almost to be Rs50,000,000,000 (Fifty billion rupees only).

“20. That if you fail to do the above within 14 days from the date of this legal notice, we have strict instructions from our clients to initiate appropriate legal proceedings against all of you in a court of competent jurisdiction for direct reputational damage caused to our clients and also actual losses that they are suffering on daily basis.

“21. That this legal notice is being served to you without prejudice to all the rights that our clients may be enjoying against you under the prevailing laws.”

PEMRA is responsible to implement SC’s order: LHC

LAHORE: Justice Ijazul Hassan of Lahore High Court (LHC) ordered on Tuesday that Pakistan Electronic Media Regularity Authority (PEMRA) is a regulatory body and it is its responsibility to implement Supreme Court’s judgment in letter and spirit, Geo News reported.

The LHC was hearing the petition today filed by the Independent Media Corporation (IMC) against PEMRA and cable operators who have shut Geo channels unlawfully in most areas of the country despite SC’s order to restore the transmission.

Justice Ijazul Hassan remarked that cable operators will also obey the court’s order once PEMRA act to enforce it. He said that all the cable operators are bound to follow PEMRA’s rules and regulations.

Furthermore, Justice Ijaz stated that cable operators cannot defy PEMRA’s rules and regulations as the latter can suspend their licenses if they refuse to implement its orders.

The lawyer representing the IMC informed the bench that the apex court had ordered PEMRA to follow the 2012 ruling for restoring Geo transmission but the authority is not implementing the court’s orders.

The lawyer further told that the future of thousands of employees is at stake and the group is bearing losses to the tune of Rs30 million every day.

The LHC instructed the IMC lawyer to move the Supreme Court for the implementation of its orders. On this, the lawyer responded that even the LHC can issue implementation order as per the Constitution.

Justice Ijazul Hassan remarked that the lawyer can also move Islamabad High Court (IHC) as PEMRA has offices in the Federal Capital.

The IMC lawyer, then, pleaded for more time for additional arguments after which the court adjourned the hearing till next week.

PEMRA continues to disregard SC orders

ISLAMABAD: It has been five days since the Supreme Court ordered the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to restore Geo channels on cable networks but the regulator has failed to do so.

The Supreme Court in its order on May 26 ordered PEMRA to restore Geo channels stating that cable operators did not have the authority to remove or reposition channels. Referring to its ruling in 2012, the apex court stated that channels can only be blocked if their license is suspended or cancelled by PEMRA.

Despite the Supreme Court orders, PEMRA has failed to take any action to restore Geo channels which cannot be seen in 90% of the country. People have been deprived of their favourite Geo channels over PEMRA’s failure to implement SC orders.

Meanwhile the Geo/Jang groups continue to be the target of attacks. On Friday a van carrying bundles of The News and Daily Jang was attacked and set on fire in Rawalpindi. In a similar attack on May 25 another van carrying publications of the group was attacked in Lahore.

PEMRA ignores SC orders to restore Geo

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PERMA) has disregarded Supreme Court orders of restoring Geo channels on cable networks across Pakistan.

According to a report published in The News by Ahmad Noorani, Geo television has decided to knock on the doors of the Supreme Court again by moving a contempt of court petition against PEMRA after the apex court’s orders to restore Geo transmission were completely ignored.

The Supreme Court in its order on May 26 ordered PEMRA to restore Geo channels stating that cable operators did not have the authority to remove or reposition channels. Referring to its ruling in 2012, the apex court stated that channels can only be blocked if their license is suspended or cancelled by PEMRA.

Despite the Supreme Court orders, PEMRA has failed to take any action to restore Geo channels which cannot be seen in 90% of the country. People have been deprived of their favourite Geo channels over PEMRA’s failure to implement SC orders.

Pemra terms meeting of some of its members illegal

ISLAMABAD: Some private members of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) had a meeting here on Wednesday on the Geo issue that was termed in defiance of the honourable Islamabad High Court orders by the authority’s ex-officio members.

The meeting, held in continuation of a similar event on May 20, formed a three-member committee to ensure implementation of the private members decisions on Geo. It will consist of Israr Abbasi, Fareeha Iftikhar and Shama Parveen.The meeting was declared illegal and invalid by the authority in its reaction late on Wednesday night.

The authority issued a statement following the May 28 meeting to clarify that the meeting called by the private members in isolation had no legal consequence. The ex-officio members pointed out in the statement that a consensual Pemra meeting was to be held on May 27 that was cancelled on the orders of the Islamabad High Court.

Moreover, all the members were informed in writing accordingly. It was decided by majority of the members that the next meeting would be convened after the decision/ further orders by the court. Therefore, the majority members felt that Wednesday’s meeting of some private members was in defiance of the court orders and thus the majority members did not attend it.

The previous meeting of private members, declared illegal by Pemra, had recommended revocation of the licences of Geo News, Geo Entertainment and Geo Tez and shutting down of their offices. Talking to media persons after the meeting, the private members — Israr Abbasi, Fareeha Iftikhar and Mian Shams — defended the meeting.

Replying to questions, Abbasi said the issue of apology by Geo and the Jang Group would be taken up in the authority’s next meeting on June 17. He said one official member had asked them to wait for the court order instead of holding a meeting to which they did not agree and held the meeting on the complaint of the Ministry of Defence against Geo.

Asked what the status of a meeting that was not attended by all the government members was, Abbasi contended that a forum participated by four, five or six members was legal and its decision was that of the authority.

About the cancellation of May 27 meeting, he said that it was cancelled after the court orders and their today’s meeting was according to the rules. Asked if the meeting was legal, then why the government members had moved the Islamabad High Court and also did not attend the today’s meeting, he said it was mentioned in Section 5 that if the government issued any policy or direction, it would be binding on the authority.

He added, therefore, if the government had formulated a policy and made up its mind not to take any action, then it should intimate the Pemra in writing that the matter was over.Abbasi said this game of cat and mouse should not be played.

He charged that the government, particularly the Ministry of Information, was under pressure and the authority’s employees were also being intimidated.Abbasi said they had asked the Council of Complaints, Islamabad, to give its opinion on the matter and the Sindh’s Council of Complaints’ recommendations would also be discussed during the next meeting.

Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Dr Nazir Saeed and six other members initially had discussions with private members but after a deadlock, they stayed away from it. Ex-officio members, according to sources, contended that the meeting should be held after four weeks.

Still blocked Geo to sue Pemra for contempt of court

 

ISLAMABAD: Geo television has decided to knock on the doors of the Supreme Court again by moving a contempt of court petition against the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) after the apex court’s orders to restore the Geo transmission were completely ignored and the government’s ‘instructions’ on this count simply put into dustbin by the Pemra. As a result, Geo is still blacked out across the country.
After the horrible attack on Pakistan’s star journalist and Geo News senior anchorperson Hamid Mir on April 19 in Karachi, certain forces started getting the transmission of Geo News closed or shifting the channel to last numbers on cable networks. Within a few days, Geo News and other channels of the Geo family were either put off air or were thrown on the last numbers on cable networks in 70% areas of Pakistan.

Viewers could not watch their favourite channel on the last numbers because of limited channel carrying capacity of their TV sets or bad signal quality at those numbers. Geo continuously informed Pemra about the closure or obstruction in its transmission but the authority never took any action and remained mysteriously silent though it was its fundamental duty to resolve the complaints from any channel facing closure.

However, later the hidden forces intensified their action against the Geo News and all other channels of Geo family were put off air in more than 95% areas of Pakistan and the organisation itself announced that channels were completely closed in Pakistan. After failing to get any relief from Pemra even after filing five complaints, Geo moved the Supreme Court which in its judgment clearly ordered the authority to get the Geo News and all Geo channels restored immediately and shifted to their original positions.

After the Supreme Court had started its proceedings, the government also asked the Pemra to try to get Geo restored. The Pemra issued a letter to all the cable operators to restore all the Geo channels to their original positions.

However, Pemra’s action remained confined to issuing this letter and also taking action against the powerful cable operators at some places but the result was almost zero. The reason was backing of cable operators by some hidden forces and incompetence and insincerity of Pemra officials at many places. All this resulted in complete disregard of the Supreme Court’s May 26 judgment, which was not implemented anywhere asGeo is still facing a countrywide blackout and also terrible conspiracies against it and its staff on a daily basis.

Geo is the most popular channel of Pakistan known for open debates and independent and impartial analysis and comments. Geo is also known for providing the latest information and exclusive news to its tens of millions of viewers across Pakistan and many parts of the world.

Not only Geo is completely off in Pakistan and Pemra is unable to restore Geo and its channels and thus implement the clear judgment of the Supreme Court but the staff of Geo is also working under constant threats. Most interestingly, the so-called democratic provincial governments are so far unable to provide protection to Pakistan’s largest media house and its journalists and workers.

PEMRA private members hold another meeting on Geo’s issue

ISLAMABAD: Some of the private members of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) on Wednesday called another meeting and formed a three-member committee with a task to implement the decisions they had taken in the previous meeting.

They have also decided to convene their next meeting on June 17.

In the opinion of the majority of PEMRA members only the chairman of the authority is competent to convene a meeting.

It is pertinent to mention here that the PEMRA spokesman, after the first meeting of the private members a few days ago, had termed it illegal and disowned its decisions.

PEMRA fails to implement SC orders to restore Geo’s channels

ISLAMABAD: TV channels of Geo Network continue remain shut across the country, as Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) failed to implement the Supreme Court’s orders to restore Geo’s channels that had been illegally put off air by the cable operators.

In blatant violation of the Supreme Court’s judgment on Monday, the PEMRA remained completely unmoved due to mysterious reasons and failed to get the Geo News and other channels restored despite the fact that the apex court had declared that criminal proceedings would be initiated against those creating hurdles in restoration of transmission of the channels, writes Ahmad Noorani.

The Supreme Court has ordered that not only all the channels of Geo family shall be restored but also their position must not be changed/altered or obstructed.

Clearly knowing that not implementing the order will be contempt of court, the Pemra officials remained unmoved and Geo News and other channels of the group remained off air in majority of the areas of the country.

Cable operators in different cities refused to restore the Geo News transmission even when citizens informed them of the verdict of the Supreme Court penned down on Monday.But the Pemra officials remained indifferent to all these issues and the apex court’s orders.

Geo moves Pemra to hear its case on merit

 

ISLAMABAD: Geo television has moved Pemra, holding that before proceeding on the complaint of the Ministry of Defence the authority should take the opinion of the Council of Complaints (CoC) under the Pemra law and that Geo should be heard on the merits of the points raised in the complaint under Section 30(3) of the Pemra Ordinance.
The application filed by the Independent Media Corporation (IMC) also made a reference to the Supreme Court’s January 15, 2013 judgment passed by the apex court in the Hamid Mir vs Federation case mentioning that the authority becomes incompetent to pass content regulations in the absence of a chairman and as presently there is no chairman, the authority is not complete and thus cannot proceed in this matter.

The Geo application also pleaded that three members of the authority, namely Israr Abbasi, Mian Shams and Fareeha Iftikhar, have shown their mind and have repeatedly announced to revoke the Geo channel’s licences so they could not sit in the authority as judges on a complaint against Geo. The Geo application also pleads that on May 6, 2014, the lawyer of Geo, Muhammad Akram Sheikh, only submitted some legal objections and is yet to present his submissions on the merits of the complaint filed by the Ministry of Defence, and Geo should be given this right under Section 30(3) of the Pemra law.

The relevant parts of the application moved by Geo on April 27, 2014 read: “1. Your kind attention is drawn to the order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of Pakistan dated 15th January 2013 passed by Mr. Justice(reported at PLD 2013 SC 244), wherein the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (“Pemra” hereafter) was held to be incompetent to pass content regulations in the absence of its Chairman. Relevant portions of the judgement are reproduced below: “5. We have earlier recorded that at least since 13-5-2011, Pemra has no Chairman. In our order dated 20-12-2012, we have also noted the serious procedural challenge raised by the petitioners, who contend that when the Content Regulations were in the process of being made or when the same were adopted and notified, Pemra did not have a Chairman and was thus not lawfully in existence. Mr. Kazmi [counsel for Respondent No. 2] contended that Dr. Abdul Jabbar was notified and was acting as Chairman of Pemra. This contention is not correct …”

“6. Based on the above, we are quite clear that the Content Regulations which were notified on 25-9-2012 cannot be construed as regulations issued by Pemra …”

“7. Mr. Kazmi then contended that even if Dr. Abdul Jabbar was not a validly appointed Chairman, the de facto doctrine, incorporated in section 3(4) of Pemra Ordinance, would save all his acts; and the Content Regulations too should therefore be deemed to have been saved. This contention is without merit. The statute cannot be read in a way which makes its most important and potent parts such as the provisions about the very composition of Pemra redundant. Such an interpretation of the de facto doctrine verges on utter disregard for the rule of law which is the foundation of our constitutional order. …”

2. Therefore Pemra, as per the above clear ruling of Honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan, in the absence of a Chairman, is not validly constituted to execute and perform functions of the Authority as contemplated by Sections 4 and 6 of the Pemra Ordinance 2002.

3. That notwithstanding the above cited view of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and without prejudice to the legal objections taken by Independent Media Corporation (Pvt.) Ltd. (the answering respondent) in reply to the Show Cause Notice dated 23.04.2014, it is further submitted as under: A. Proviso to Section 30(1)(b) of Pemra Ordinance requires that: ‘Provided that in case of revocation of a licence of a broadcast media, an opinion to this effect shall also be obtained from the Council of Complaints.’

As Authority has not yet obtained an opinion from the Council of Complaints, it is not allowed by the statute to proceed to revoke the respondent’s licence.

B. In addition to above, Section 30(3) of Pemra Ordinance provides: ’Except for reason of necessity in public interest, a licence shall not be … revoked unless the licencee has been given reasonable notice to show cause and a personal hearing.”

It may be noted that Pemra has not yet heard the answering respondent on merits of the complaint. During the hearing dated 06.05.2014, Muhammad Akram Sheikh, senior advocate Supreme Court, raised several preliminary legal objections, including the contention that in the absence of the chairman, Pemra was not lawfully authorised or empowered to hear the instant complaint. Having considered those preliminary objections, Pemra sought the opinion of the Ministry of Law on the legal objections raised. Akram Sheikh did not submit response on merit of the complaint.

C. Now that the authority has received the legal opinion from the Ministry of Law, it must comply with Section 30(3) to afford the answering respondent the opportunity to submit its reply to the complaint on merit. It is thus that the Authority is requested to give the answering respondent reasonable time for right of hearing, without which any decision taken by the Authority will be legally flawed and an abuse of power.

D. Lastly, in the interest of justice and fair play, we wish to place on record the undisputed fact that the following three members of the Authority, namely Israr Abbasi, Mian Shams and Fariha Iftikhar, have disqualified themselves from sitting as a judge and to adjudicate on the issue in question because they have repeatedly, through press conferences and also through various live interviews on different rival TV channels, vowed that they would revoke Geo News licence. All these three members are not only biased but hostile, they have each prejudged the matter even before the meeting of the Authority and hence they are not entitled to participate in the discussion, cast their votes and thus decide this matter.

Any decision taken against the answering respondents that is based on the votes casted by these three biased and hostile members shall not be sustainable under law. As a result of their hostile interviews and expression of their hatred and anger against answering respondent, the said members have rendered themselves incapacitated from taking any part in relation to the complaint as they have prejudged the fate of the complaint.

It is the duty of the Authority to exclude these members from the proceedings to ensure that the right of the answering respondents to a fair trial as guaranteed under Article 10A of the Constitution.

E. Therefore, the ex-officio and other members of Pemra are kindly requested to restrain Pemra from initiating any actions without referring the complaint to the Council of Complaints where the answering respondent is yet to make submissions on merits.

Pemra terms Geo shutdown, change in position illegal

 

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) has declared the closure and re-positioning of Geo TV illegal.
A Pemra spokesperson on Friday said that shutting down and pushing the Geo TV channels to the last numbers by cable operators was a violation of Pemra rules. Therefore, Pemra has issued a notice to the cable operators to seek their response.

Pemra has also summoned the administrative authorities of ARY News, Express News and Dunya News over telecast of objectionable content for multiple times on their respective channels.

The Pemra spokesperson said that the decision to summon the authorities of the channels was taken by the Council of Complaints on the complaints of a large number of people.

It may also be mentioned here that the government has decided to take action against three members of Pemra and has issued show cause notices to Israr Abbasi, Mian Shams and Fareeha Iftikhar.

These officials had, without any authority, announced recently to suspend Geo’s three licences after a meeting that was declared illegal by the Pemra spokesperson.Reports said that the notice was issued to the members for maligning Pemra by levelling baseless accusations.

PEMRA declares re-positioning of Geo channels illegal

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has declared the re-positioning of Geo TV channels illegal and has summoned the administration of ARY News, Express News and Dunya News over the audiences’ complain for broadcasting the objectionable content repeatedly, Geo News reported on Friday.

The spokesperson of PEMRA said that pushing the Geo TV channels to the later numbers by the cable operators is the violation of PEMRA rules. Therefore, PEMRA has issued notice to the cable operators to seek their response.

Also, the Complaint Council of PEMRA has summoned the administrative authorities of ARY News, Express News and Dunya News over telecasting the objectionable content multiple times on their respective channels.

The spokesman said that the decision to summon the authorities of the mentioned channels was taken on the complaints received by the people.

It may also be mentioned here that the government has decided to take action against three members of PEMRA and has issued show cause notices to Israr Abbasi, Mian Shams and Fareeha Ikhtiar.

These officials had, without any authority, announced recently to suspend Geo's three licenses after a meeting that was declared illegal soon afterwards by the PEMRA spokesman.

The sources said that the notice was issued to the members for maligning PEMRA by leveling baseless accusations.

Pemra issues letter to save its skin in SC

ISLAMABAD: Pemra was silent for 33 days after the April 19 attack on senior journalist Hamid Mir and subsequent closure of Geo, but on Thursday it wrote a ‘clear’ letter to the cable operators to restore Geo channels to their original positions.

However, this letter was written to show only a fake performance to the Supreme Court which has summoned Pemra and sought its reply.On the ground, no cable operator in Pakistan has implemented this order of Pemra and Geo and its channels remained off air or on the last numbers till late last night.

It was also clear that both Pemra and the cable operators were not serious about restoring the channel because some angels and spirits were flying around them and were forcing them to continue violating the law and the Constitution, especially Articles 19 and 19-A of the Constitution.

The media watchdog earlier wrote a letter on May 2, 2014 to restore Geo’s position but this letter was ridiculous and was supporting and favouring the point of view of cable operators.

Supreme Court orders in the past to restore the transmission of Geo News or other Geo channels were never implemented and Pemra always gave wrong reports and assurances to the apex court benches hearing these cases.

Even after 12 hours on Thursday after issuance of the Pemra letter, which was meant to save its skin in the Supreme Court and to give an impression as if it was fully vigilant and performing its regulatory duties very well, not even 1 percent of cable operators had restored the transmission of Geo News and other Geo channels.

At a few places where Geo could be viewed, it was thrown on the last numbers by the cable networks in order to confuse the viewers and inflict losses on the group. Not only this, in these very few areas where Geo was available on the last numbers, a majority of viewers could not watch because of low channel carrying capacity of their TV sets which is often less than 50 while Geo is thrown on numbers above 80.

Even in the past, during the last two regimes, when Geo was closed or its position was thrown to the last numbers, the Supreme Court used to pass orders to restore the Geo transmission to its original numbers but these orders of apex court were never implemented.

Pemra used to submit fake and incorrect reports to the apex court regarding the channel’s transmission but the channel would only be restored when the government of the day or our real rulers/angels would allow it.

Independent media and journalists are really worried that even at this time the government and Pemra may succeed in intentionally misguiding the apex court and any court orders to restore Geo and its other channels would not be implemented.

The PML-N government remained silent for 33 days despite five complaints by Geo and the Jang Group that its channels were being put off air.

The angels managed dirty and false propaganda on “selected” TV channels that the present government was favouring Geo in the present situation. There were many fools to believe this false statement without even comprehending that the PML-N government was not only silent on the closure of Geo News, it never took any action against cable operators for illegally and unconstitutionally blocking Geo. In fact at some instances it facilitated such cable operators.

Despite repeated requests, the PML-N government remained shamelessly inactive to get Geo restored on the cable networks and allowed unconstitutional forces to come in direct contact with cable operators and compromise its own writ.

Though Pemra overall remained inactive to get its Thursday’s letter implemented as it was merely written to show fake performance to the Supreme Court during the present hearing, few officers who started contacting the cable operators in the field to get the channels restored were threatened.

These officers received calls from blank numbers. Later they came to know that some secret people had reached the cable operators and asked them to refuse to obey orders to restore Geo or its other channels.

At some places, the cable operators informed Pemra officials that immediately after the delivery of the Pemra letter or verbal orders to restore Geo, they started receiving calls from terrorist and extremist organisations not to restore Geo.

Govt can terminate Pemra members for violating rules: Media Commission member

 

ISLAMABAD: Javed Jabbar, a member of the Media Commission formed by the Supreme Court, said on Tuesday the meeting of its private members had put the Pemra to ridicule once again.
He said the decision of private members was illegal and against the Pemra Ordinance. He said the members could be terminated by the government for violating the rules. The father of Pemra Ordinance, Javed Jabbar, said Pemra had no legal authority as it lacked a chairman. He said the private members had adopted an indecent way to violate their authority.

He said this act of private members could not be condemned enough. He said such an important decision needed participation of the majority and not mere quorum. Javed Jabbar said making such decisions without granting appropriate time was not right. He said Pemra should have taken notice of the one-sided and illegal campaign being run against Geo explicitly and implicitly.

He said Pemra should have taken notice of the fact that Geo transmission was delayed by putting pressure on cable operators.He said he condemned this act and hoped that the court of law would take a stern action on it if the matter was put before it. He said he has had reservations about the role of the media and on this subject, he had already written in Jang and The News. But this doesn’t mean that the licence of Geo may be terminated and a campaign is launched following a certain agenda.

He said the way other channels launched a campaign against Geo was indecent and improper. Pemra should take notice of it, which it unfortunately has not, he said.Javed Jabbar said after the statement of the official spokesperson of Pemra on the matter, no legal authority whatsoever could be attached to this meeting of five members. They have made fun of themselves, he said.

He said Pemra should act independently and impartially. He said the government reserves the right to terminate these five members for taking such an illegal step as holding the meeting in question.

Pemra disowns three-member decision banning Geo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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’.

Pemra a weak institution: Haji Adeel

KARACHI: Pemra is a weak institution, said Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman Haji Muhammad Adeel, commenting on the efforts to shut down Geo TV. He told The News his party the ANP believes in press freedom and will oppose every effort to ban Geo TV. He said the judicial commission’s report on the attack on Hamid Mir should be awaited as it will uncover hidden facts.

He said gags were imposed on Geo TV in the past too and his party had opposed them at the time too, making the closure of Geo TV a distant dream. He said Pemra is a weak institution and the judicial commission should have been accessed instead of putting forward an application to Pemra. He said the Pemra decision could be challenged. He said the country needs a free media and the media should also adopt an attitude of equality.

He said Geo TV made Imran Khan a hero in the past which was a mistake. He said small parties should also be given coverage as they are in support of a free media. He said attempts to ban Geo TV will damage the reputation of the country at the international level.

Leader of the House in the Senate Raja Zafrul Haq told this scribe that the attack on Hamid Mir is unfortunate, and it could have cost his life. He said nobody is ready to confess to their mistakes. He said the report of the judicial commission should be awaited. He said in the present state, the country could not afford the steps and tactics being used to close down Geo TV. He said the attack on Mir and later attempts to shut down the media house were an ugly stain on the country.

Former SC Judge Wajeehuddin said a middle course should be adopted as the overuse of anything is dangerous. Told that his party, the Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf, has also turned against Geo TV, he said he has issued this statement in his personal capacity. He said his personality is more (valuable) than his position in the party.

Reference to Pemra shows on which side govt stands: Nisar

 

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on Friday that by sending the reference to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), it had become clear on whose side the government was standing. He said that they always helped the Jang and Geo TV in the time of distress.
Ch Nisar categorically stated that the media trial of armed forces, including the ISI and army, was not acceptable.Talking to newsmen informally here on Friday, he said that no one should misunderstand the government’s stance towards the defence institutions, as it was bound by the law and Constitution to preserve their honour and dignity.

Chaudhry Nisar said the federal government was cooperating with the Sindh Police in its probe into the attack on Hamid Mir but it was unfortunate to see that instead of cooperating in the investigation, a media trial was going on.

He said that Geo and Jang, under the pretext of the attack on Hamid Mir, was playing the roles of the complainant, police, prosecutor and judge themselves.The Indian and the Western media maligned Pakistan after the coverage of Geo, Nisar said and added that the attack on Hamid Mir would be investigated and taken to its logical end.

He said Hamid Mir should have given his statement to the investigation agencies instead of Aamir Mir.He blamed the Islamabad Police for not inquiring into the matter but he didn’t provide any phone number or information to the police, the interior minister added. —Online

APP adds: Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said it was a constitutional and legal obligation of the government to protect the honour of the armed forces and security and intelligence agencies.

Chaudhry Nisar said the government strongly condemned the attack on Hamid Mir and expressed sympathy with his family. He said as an interior minister, it was his responsibility to bring to justice the culprits involved in the Hamid Mir incident.

The minister said it was also his responsibility to ensure that the dignity of defence institutions was safeguarded.He said that the federal government had also set up a three-member judicial commission that would prepare its report within 21 days. The commission would hand over the report to the government, which would make it public, he added.

Chaudhry Nisar said in the statement given by Hamid Mir it was also stated that the Islamabad Police did not take action on his complaint on a threatening phone call received by him. “I ordered an inquiry into it last evening and according to police, Hamid Mir had not provided any telephone number to the police,” he said.

About the incident of planting a bomb underneath the car of Hamid Mir, he said the police arrested the driver of Hamid Mir but he was later released after the TTP accepted responsibility.

Chaudhry Nisar said the media trial should be stopped as it creates misunderstanding. After the attack on Hamid Mir, the ISPR condemned the incident and called for the formation of a commission to hold a probe into it, he added.

The minister said that the government, opposition and security institutions agreed that culprits should be brought to book and without an inquiry and evidence, a media trial should not be carried out, as the enemies would benefit from it.

He said India and the United States had launched huge propaganda in the wake of the incident adding an independent media was the need of Pakistan, however, dignified security institutions were also imperative for the country.

The minister said they should step back, take a deep breath and control the situation. He said that he tried in the past and even now he was trying to cool down the matter, adding he always continued his struggle for an independent media and would always oppose a ban on any media organisation.

He appealed to all sides to show patience and stop the media trial.Chaudhry Nisar said the issue of statement given by the Taliban to malign the top intelligence agency over the Hamid Mir incident was taken up by him with the Taliban nominated committee. He protested to them as, on the one side, a dialogue was being held and on the other side, they were maligning the agency.He said all the intelligence and security agencies were coordinating in the investigation of Hamid Mir incident.