Summary The full court reference was held in honor of outgoing Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - The Supreme Court has issued notice to Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) chairman, Islamabad police and court reporters association over the case pertaining to the selective coverage of full court reference.
The notices, issued by inquiry officer, summoned the footages of full court reference along with the debate and programmes being held on different channels over the sensitive issue from PEMRA chairman while the police was directed to submit report over the security personnel deployed on that day.
The inquiry officer directed police and PEMRA to submit record today (Monday) while the reporters association was directed to record their statement.
Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani made additional registrar Muhammad Ali the inquiry officer after taking suo motu notice over the selective coverage of full court reference.
The notice was taken after media personnel protested against the dicrimination by providing footage of s full court reference to only one private TV channel.
The full court reference was held in honor of outgoing Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
The incumbent CJP took this suo moto notice soon after assuming his office on Thursday on a note presented by registrar SC.
It was said in the note that such reports have been telecast in electronic media at large scale that a particular media group has been given access to court room No 1 wherein footage of full court reference has been made.
It was further alleged in the reports that SC administration supported one specific media group and meted out discriminatory treatment to other journalists.
The journalists boycotted all the functions which were held following full court reference. This has reflected negative attitude of SC while the court practices extreme impartiality, report added.
The Chief Justice ordered additional registrar to probe the matter and submit the report.
It is worth mentioning here that the media groups aggressively reacted over the discrimination done by the Supreme Court administration by allowing only one private channel to cover the full court reference held in honour of outgoing CJP Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Wednesday. Even the state-run television was not even given access to cover the event.
Raising voice against the discrimination, the media groups demanded of the incoming Chief Justice to take suo motu action against this prejudice. The journalists chanted slogans ‘Boycott Supreme Court’ ‘Boycott’ in the Supreme Court premises.
When the protest gained momentum, CJP s Staff Officer Abdul Hameed came outside the hall and promised to hold an inquiry into the matter. He said the court admin had hired a private cameraman to record the event and had been asked to provide footage to all TV channels.
However, his explanation further complicated the situation as he failed to satisfy the reporters. He maintained that the cameraman ran away with the footage.
Commenting on the issue, former president Supreme Court Bar Association Rasheed A Rizvi said that the move was violation of Article 25.
PPP leader Senator Aitzaz Ahsan said that the discrimination was just a no ball from Supreme Court’s side.
SCBA Secretary Asif Cheema said those favouring a single private TV channel would be exposed and the matter would be probed thoroughly.
Later, the Supreme Court Bar Association also convened an emergency session over the issue and approved a unanimous resolution against the incident.
