Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch announced on Tuesday to withdraw the case registered against ARY television channel and formed a committee to investigate the matter.
Speaking on a point of order during the Balochistan Assembly session in Quetta‚ the chief minister said the government believed in freedom of expression and respected the judiciary.
He said the Balochistan government had not called for the registration of an FIR against the private channel but a misunderstanding led to the filing of the case.
He said the statements by the channel’s administration against the provincial government were regrettable.
Dr Malik said he was chairing a cabinet meeting when Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan telephoned him and said that the Balochistan government had registered a case against ARY.
He said he had not been aware of the case. On enquiry, he was told that the case was registered on the orders of the Supreme Court (SC).
However, when he demanded a copy of the court’s order, he was told that no such case had been registered.
On Tuesday morning, the SC registrar summoned Balochistan government Spokesman Jan Buledi and enquired who had ordered the filing of the FIR. He said the FIR was registered due to a misunderstanding and regretted the incident.
