No authority can hold information from people: LHC CJ

Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Azmat Saeed said on Saturday that no authority had the legal power to halt flow of information to people through press and electronic media about the working of all government departments, including the LHC.
He was addressing a seminar titled “Court Reporting and Media Ethics”, as a chief guest at the Judicial Academy Punjab, organised by the Press Council of Pakistan and the Lahore Bar Association.
Daily Pakistan Chief Editor Mujeedur-Rehman Shami, Express Tribune Editor Zia-ud-Din, columnists Saeed Assi and Arfan Siddiqui, Lahore Bar Association President Chaudhry Zulfiqar, Press Council of Pakistan Chairman Raja Shafqat Khan Abbasi and Judicial Academy Chairman justice (retired) Tanvir Ahmed Khan spoke on media ethics and the problems faced by the journalist community in performing their duties. Justice Umer Ata Banidal and LHC Registrar Sohail Nasir were also present on the occasion.
Speaking at the occasion, the LHC CJ said that the government or the Press Council of Pakistan can not make journalists responsible by imposing ethics on them as it was only the reporters who can form norms of the ‘responsible press’ themselves over time, as had been done in the western countries.
He said that the media could not be controlled like puppets by outside forces as the journalist community has struggled greatly, sacrificed lives and faced imprisonment to attain the freedom of press. He said that the court judgments become public property after the judges’ signatures, therefore judges need not hide the judgments/cases from reporters so that the news of public interest may reach the people.
The CJ said that he appreciated the criticism by journalists. “I can tolerate criticism but I can not bear the silence of graveyard therefore I like to keep the door of the courts open for the public and the reporters,” he added.
The CJ said that the journalists should not fear the contempt of court action as it was taken against those who do not implement court orders or create hindrance in the way of justice.
Speaking on the occasion, Mujeed-urRehman Shami said that the coordination between lawyers, judges and media was mandatory for dispensation of justice system and flow of information to the masses. Regarding media ethics, Shami said that the new trend of open debates on the pending cases was tarnishing the image of the judiciary and it should be limited. Express Tribune Editor Zia-udDin criticised the judges’ habit of passing observations and remarks, which were picked by media for day long debates on the under adjudication cases. He said it seemed that the judiciary had become market-oriented and judges perhaps like to be discussed on talk shows, forgetting that such practice by the TV channels was lowering the judges’ dignity in the eyes of the public.
Arfan Siddiqui said that the reporters should not add their opinions in the news, rather present the news with objectivity as news does not allow the expression of opinion, which can be done by the columnists and editorial writers.