‘Who issued Bol license? Was PEMRA sleeping?’

• SC grills PEMRA for inefficiency, seeks three-year record of income, salaries of PEMRA chief, employees
• Justice Saeed says no compromise will be made on freedom of expression, independence of media

Hearing the media commission case, a three-member Supreme Court (SC) bench, headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, Wednesday sought three-year record of income and salaries of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory (PEMRA) chairman, members and employees within 24 hours.

“If PEMRA is not working, what are the salaries being paid for? It should be closed down. The case started in July, 2012. PEMRA did nothing for three years. All the salaries will have to be returned. We have conducted 105 hearings. We want to reach some conclusion now,” Justice Jawwad S Khawaja said during the hearing.

“Who issued license to Bol TV? Did PEMRA issue this license? If Bol TV runs, the name of its owner should also appear in a ticker. Even a 10-year-old child can get to know about the shareholders through internet now,” Justice Khawaja said, also seeking report on performance of the committee constituted under Irfan Siddiqui.

“We cannot issue directives of any kind to National Assembly (NA) and its committee in respect of rules and regulations for media,” he said, however stressing that the court will do its job.

During the hearing, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed observed that two years had passed since the establishment of the government and the court had been kept in the dark.

“So many problems would not have come to the fore if PEMRA was working. When TVs start running, PEMRA officers go to their homes to sleep. A channel came but PEMRA did not know about its real owner. If PEMRA is not working then it should be closed,” Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed observed.

“No bar will be accepted nor will any compromise be made on the independence of media and freedom of expression. If any attempt is made to impose any bar on the independence of media, we will not spend even a minute in nullifying it,” Justice Saeed however added.

Earlier, upon query, Hamid Mir told the court, “Under the prime minister’s directives, Irfan Siddiqui had started working on the code of conduct in collaboration with the parties concerned. Editors and workers of newspapers cooperated but owners of TV channels extended no cooperation.”

Moreover, Absar Alam told the court that whatever the owners decided with the government was implemented. “One more list with regard to the secret fund has not come out in the open. We are four pillars of state. All the institutions should bring their bank balance to the fore. Owners including anchors should declare their assets and brief about their sources too,” he said, adding that the new scandal had further tarnished the credibility of the authority.

The hearing of the case was adjourned till Thursday.