ISLAMABAD: A three-member Supreme Court bench on Thursday issued notices to Raja Riaz, PPP Punjab senior minister and Uzma Bukhari, PPP’s provincial assembly member, asking them to submit their replies over a statement they made in an assembly session that certain TV channels were shareholder of India’s Bajaj Group.
The bench of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Tariq Parvez and Justice Ghulam Rabbani issued notices to both leaders through the Punjab Assembly speaker and secretary. The court also issued a separate notice to the federal government through the Information secretary and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA).
With the mutual consent of the parties, the court nominated former senator and information minister Javed Jabbar as the mediator to monitor the allocation of frequency to various TV channels under PEMRA rules and regulations. The court asked the respondents to submit their replies to the points raised by the lawyer of GEO and ARY TV channels, Muhammad Akram Sheikh.
The chief justice asked Muhammad Ibrahim Satti, PEMRA’s lawyer, to get a notification issued in this regard. Sheikh contended that Punjab Assembly members had levelled allegations during an assembly session that GEO TV had shares in an Indian company.
The court then noted that it would first issue notices to the government and these individuals so that they could file their replies over the matter. The court said if they accepted their claims, then it (SC) might direct intelligence agencies to probe the matter thoroughly.
