ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar on Friday warned media owners of a strict action if they fail to pay the salaries to their employees.
“Sell your Bentley cars and clear all dues,” the top judge told media owners while hearing a request filed by Press Association of Supreme Court President Tayyab Baloch.
During the course of proceedings, Pervez Shaukat, who was representing media employees along with Baloch, told the court that the media workers did not have money to pay their children’s school fee because they had not received their salaries. He also claimed that the media houses had received billions of rupees “to speak against the judiciary”.
The apex court ordered Capital TV to pay their employees by December 5 while Daily Times, Nawai Waqt, The Nation, Bol News, 7 News, Star Asia and Khabrain were given time until December 15. Moreover, the ARY Group was ordered to pay two employees whose salaries had been withheld.
The chief justice also ordered Capital TV to submit the copies of the cheques and an affidavit after paying the withheld salaries. When the CJP asked if claims of not receiving salaries were false, the representative of Capital TV said that the workers had “exaggerated the situation”.
Daily Times’ counsel told the court that employees had been paid their two months’ salaries while the organisation had yet to pay them for another two months.
However, the CJP ordered the media houses to pay their employees even if they have to “beg or borrow loans”, otherwise face a strict action under the Revenue Recovery Act.
He warned that if the media houses failed to comply with the court’s order, they will face contempt charges and their owners will be sent to jail.
