The Islamabad High Court on Tuesday adjourned the proceedings of two petitions relating to Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) till June 26. A single-member bench of Justice Noor-ul-Haq N. Qureshi heard the two petitions against the removal of former chairman PEMRA Chaudhry Rashid Ahmed and the appointment of Pervaiz Rathore as acting chairman.
During the proceedings of a petition against the removal of former chairman PEMRA Chaudhry Rashid, Wasim Sajjad the counsel for Rashid, apprised the court that his client was appointed on a four-year term as chairman PEMRA on February 26, 2013. He said that he could only be removed on misconduct or physical/mental disorder, however, the incumbent government of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) sacked Rashid on December 15, 2013 without issuing any show-cause notice to him.
Upon which, he Rashid filed a petition in the IHC's subsequently, his termination notice was suspended by Justice Riaz Ahmed Khan and the court restored him on December 26, 2013. He added that a show-cause notice was issued to his client on February 6, 2014 by the Secretary Interior on an allegation that Rashid as secretary Information and Broadcasting had sent a summary to the then prime minister for his appointment as chairman PERMA.
The court asked whether the Secretary Interior was a competent authority to send a show cause notice to chairman PEMRA; to which, Sajjad replied that Secretary Interior has no such authority. The court adjourned the proceedings of the matter till June 26. The court also adjourned till June 26 the proceedings of a petition filed by private members of the PEMRA against the appointment of Pervaiz Rathore as acting chairman PEMRA.