PTI petitions LHC to overturn the prohibition on airing Imran’s remarks.

LAHORE – The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday appealed a blanket ban on the broadcasting of PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s speeches and utterances that had been imposed by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra).

PEMRA was added as a party to the petition, which was submitted at the LHC by Lawyer Ahmed Pansuta, the ousted premier’s solicitor.

The petition argued that the speech restriction violates the Constitution’s basic rights. “Freedom of speech is guaranteed under the Constitution of Pakistan,” it continued.

“The nation cannot afford disruption by this sort of limitation,” the government said, “because it would cause political unrest and disorder in the country.”

In the petition, PTI adopted the stance.

The argument also asserts that the Pemra Act’s requirement that a ban be approved by at least five members violates the law since only three of the 13 members out of the Pemra sent the notice of the ban.

Imran Khan, the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), was completely barred from giving speeches, lectures, or other public addresses earlier on Sunday by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra).

The regulatory authority said in a notice that the PTI chairman has been falsely accusing government entities in his remarks, “which is adverse to the preservation of law and order and is liable to disrupt public peace and tranquilly.”

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Pemra has ordered all satellite television stations to stop showing any comments, speeches, and discussions from the PTI chairman, whether they are recorded, live, or from a news conference.

In accordance with Section 27 of the Pemra Law 2002, the regulator decided to prohibit the transmission of Imran’s statements. “Airing of unsubstantiated claims, nasty, slanderous and unjustified remark against state institutions and personnel are in blatant violation of Article 19 of the Constitution,” it said.

It is not unusual for the media watchdog to decide to ban the broadcast of Imran Khan’s remarks. In reality, on August 21 of last year, the media regulator had already enacted a similar prohibition. When Imran reportedly threatened Additional District and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry, the Islamabad Police IG, and the DIG, the whole ban was put into effect. The claimed comments were made after the court had sent Shahbaz Gill, Imran’s assistant, to the police for two days of physical detention.

Imran Khan had appealed the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) order to prohibit his speeches, and on September 6, 2022, the IHC reversed the ruling.
On November 5 of the same year, Pemra once again issued a ban on Imran’s press conferences. The regulatory body took this action after Imran accused Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, and a senior intelligence official by the name of Major General Faisal Naseer of plotting to kill him without offering any proof in his first press conference following an attempt on his life. To guarantee a fair probe, Imran urged their immediate resignations.

Hours later, however, the government ordered Pemra to withdraw the restriction, and Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb reaffirmed the commitment of the government to “democratic ideals and constitutional freedoms of speech.”