#SC DEW HARASSMENT CODE#
#SC DEW HARASSMENT FREE#

#SC DEW HARASSMENT FREE#

“The press release creates an impression as if criminal cases were registered at the behest of the judiciary, and in doing so it portrays the judiciary to be inimical to the guaranteed fundamental right of a free press,” the order regretted. The court’s order made a reference to a press release issued by the FIA stating that criminal cases had been registered against some journalists because they reported against the judiciary.īut the press release did not disclose what was said against the judiciary. “There are no consequences for the perpetrators and those who should be protecting journalists and ensuring freedom of the press are themselves involved.”

#SC DEW HARASSMENT CODE#

The court issued notices to the heads of the Pakistan Television Corporation (PTC) and the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC), asking them to reply in writing whether they uphold the fundamental right of a free press and comply with different judgements in this regard.Īttorney General Khalid Jawed Khan and the advocates general of the four provinces and Islamabad Capital Territory were issued notices under the Code of Civil Procedure.Īccording to the order, journalists were being harassed, intimidated, attacked and shot at.

Moreover, the Supreme Court observed, if the allegations were true it would be a grave transgression of the Constitution requiring urgent redress. The court observed that since the application had raised matters of public importance with reference to the enforcement of fundamental rights, it met the criteria for invoking Article 184(3) of the Constitution. The apex court took up the matter after Abdul Qayyum Siddiqui, a former president of the Press Association of the Supreme Court (PAS), drew its attention to the rising incidents of harassment of journalists. The court regretted that the FIA appeared to have overstepped its mandate and undermined the nation’s confidence in the judiciary.Ī two-judge SC bench, consisting of Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel, also issued notices to the secretaries of information and broadcasting, religious affairs and human rights ministries as well as to the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS), the Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA), the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), asking them to state whether the allegations made in the application were correct or not. The court issued the directives in response to a four-page petition complaining that journalists were facing increasing acts of intimidation at the hands of security agencies.

The three officials are: the interior secretary, the Federal Investigation Agency’s director general and the Islamabad police inspector general. ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has asked three senior officials to appear before it on Aug 26 to hear the government’s version on the rising incidents of harassment of journalists.

Sc dew harassment