The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has taken a decision to suspend the license of renowned news channel BOL News for a time period of thirty days for airing disapproving content against the courts and judiciary.
A notification regarding this decision was given out on Friday, stating that the license was withdrawn after the news channel aired anti-judiciary statements on a news show on January 12. An amount of Rs. 1 million has also been imposed.
Based on the details, news anchor, Sami Ibrahim, and a senior reporter, Mian Daud, had apparently questioned the procedure of judges’ appointment and had made poor comments against the judiciary in the tv show “Tajzia” which was aired on January 12 on BOL News.
For this, the channel was delivered a show-cause notice on January 14 by PEMRA and a response to it was expected within a week. On the other hand, the channel neither acknowledged its mistake nor did it delivered back an apology. It opposed that the program was in according to regulations of PEMRA and that the supervisory body should take away its notice.
An official statement stated; “Through this notice, the channel has been directed not to broadcast contemptuous content against any state institution and should follow the Article 19, and Article 66 of PEMRA Rules”
