Contempt case: Talal to record statement on April 30

Minister of State for Interior, Talal Chaudhry will record his statement in the contempt of court petition on April 30, as the prosecution witness completed his statement on Friday. A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal, heard the contempt case against the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader. Talal was issued contempt notice for making anti-judiciary remarks at a party rally on January 24 and 27, 2018.
The prosecutor in this case Additional Attorney General Waqar Rana presented his lone witness, Director General (Monitoring) PEMRA Haji Adam. He recorded his statement and was cross-examined by Talal's counsel Kamran Murtaza.
Adam acknowledged that there is no mechanism in Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to detect whether or not the video aired on the TV channels is genuine. He also conceded that there is possibility of editing and dubbing of video clip, but said video submitted in this case is of live recording.
The DG (Monitoring) PEMRA told that no notice was issued to the TV channel which aired the video live. Adam said he did not mention time on the letter, which was sent to Attorney General for Pakistan in this case, but said time is mentioned in the video clip, submitted before the court. He said it is incorrect to suggest that the contents of the letter and the video clip do not match.
He apprised: "I normally monitor the TV channels from 8 to 12 hours in the office, but when I am at my residence I remain in touch and monitor the programmes on my cell phone." He said it is incorrect to suggest that monitoring the TV channels round the clock is not humanly possible.
Adam told that the clip on the TV channel was monitored and recorded by his staff who works in shifts. However, he said at this stage he can't recount their names. He said the person who had monitored and recorded the video clip is certainly monitored it in the office. Adam said that he does not know who had recorded Chaudhry's statements in the TV channels.
Talal in his reply to show cause notice submitted that the respect and dignity of apex court has been ensured through Article 204 of the Constitution. "The provisions of the same Constitution jealously guards and protects the fundamental rights of freedom of speech and expression through Article 19 of the Constitution."