LAHORE: Justice Shams Mahmood Mirza of the Lahore High Court on Thursday suspended the ban on broadcast of speeches and statements of Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran Khan.

The court also sought reply from the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) by March 13 on a petition challenging the notification of Pemra imposing a ban on airing speeches and statements of Imran Khan and referred the matter to Chief Justice for its disposal by some larger bench.

Petitioner Imran Khan through his counsel maintained that the ban on speech was a violation of fundamental rights as enshrined in the Constitution. He said, “The Pemra issued the impugned order without having regard to the constitutional rights guaranteed under Articles 19 and 19-A of the Constitution.”

He said a plain reading of Section 27 of the Pemra ordinance, prima-facie, showed it did not empower the authority to issue a blanket prohibition order.

He also pointed out that a judgment handed down by the Islamabad High Court declared a similar prohibition order against the petitioner as ultra vires of the Ordinance.

“The ban on freedom of expression will lead to chaos and political agitation in the county. In the current political situation, the country cannot afford chaos by this kind of restriction,” he added.

He, therefore, prayed the court to set aside the impugned notification for being violative to Article 10-A of the Constitution. The notification issued by the regulatory body stated that the PTI chairman has been making false accusations against state institutions in his speeches which is prejudiced to the maintenance of law and order and is likely to disturb public peace and tranquility.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023