Slot holders used by successive govts to curtail media independence; Independent Media Corporation Pvt Ltd asks court to make govt consult opposition, PBA; Akram Sheikh files petition on behalf of petitioner
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday issued a notice to Secretary Information and Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) after a petition moved the court forappointment of an impartial chairman to Pemra in consultation with the stakeholders — the government, the opposition and Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA).
Justice Muhammad Anwar Kasi directed the respondent to submit reply within one week. Nominating the Ministry of Information and Pemra as respondents, Abdul Aziz Mohmand of Independent Media Corporation Pvt. Ltd. (IMCL) prayed to the court to appoint a duly qualified person as chairman Pemra in consultation with all the stakeholders.
The petitioner, through his lawyer Muhammad Akram Sheikh Advocate, told the court that IMCL was a private limited company that owned and operated Pakistan’s leading television channels and it also belonged to the leading electronic and print media group of Pakistan, i.e. Jang/Geo Group.
The petitioner adopted before the court that in the present day modern democracies the media was considered as the fourth pillar of the state that acted as an information bridge between the governing bodies and the general public.
“As the freedom of the media is the guarantee of success of the republic government, all the developed and modern countries around the globe have ensured complete media independence. However, in Pakistan the government controls the media through Pemra, as it unilaterally appoints a person as chairman Pemra who feels his prime obligation is to serve the government of the day,” said the petitioner.
The petitioner said the Supreme Court on December 20, 2012 vide an order in various clubbed petitions relating to, more or less, the same issue including the one filed by Mr. Hamid Mir and Absar Alam had restrained the acting chairman Pemra from representing himself as chairman or acting chairman Pemra.
The apex court in its January 15 decision, while hearing these petitions, directed the government, “The position of chairman Pemra has to be filled by a person who fulfills the exceptional and stringent requirements prescribed in the Pemra Ordinance and not by a casual appointee. Moreover, the appointment has to be made through an open and transparent process to ensure that the appointee meets the objective criteria specified in the Pemra Ordinance.”
That nowhere in the above-mentioned petitions the question of appointment of chairman Pemra with the consultation/consensus of all the stakeholders, especially PBA, has arisen nor any relief has been sought by any party to the above-mentioned petitions nor the apex court has passed any order in this regard. Therefore, the instant petition is the first petition filed with the IHC on the appointment of chairman Pemra with the ‘meaningful’ consultation of all the stakeholders.
The petitioner told the court that under Pemra Ordinance 2002, its function should had been to better the access of information to the general public whereas Pemra had played a detrimental and obstructive role for the developing private media industry in Pakistan by focusing purely on regulation and that too through selective and discriminatory application of rules, penalties etc that is quite contrary to its founding principles.
In addition to the above, there is a huge and natural conflict of interest of all past and present chairmen Pemra who feel obliged to carry out directly or indirectly the interest of the government of the day. The governments, past and present, also find it too difficult to resist indirectly or directly using Pemra to influence the editorial policies of broadcasters due to which the independence of Pakistani media was compromised for the sweet wishes of the government through the partial/dependent regulator.
He said the Pakistani media industry will continue to be completely pliant and dependent unless a neutral and impartial chairman Pemra was appointed with the consultation of all the stakeholders. He said even the Indian Parliament while adopting ‘The Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Act, 1990’, ensured the freedom and independence of their media by adopting a transparent procedure for the removal of chairman and other members of their regulatory body.
He said the pressure and the control of government on the media for highlighting government corruption, unless stopped, was yet to peak as the country heads towards elections which would perhaps be the most crucial time for the people of Pakistan as well as the media industry of the country.
The petitioner further said it was thus obvious that so long as Pemra itself was not independent, it could not be expected to allow the emergence and continuation of an independent media in Pakistan; therefore, an impartial and independent chairman Pemra is needed to be appointed after due consultation with all the stakeholders.
The petitioner prayed to the court to permanently restrain the Information Ministry and Pemra from unilaterally appointing a person of government’s choice as chairman Pemra and other members.He also prayed to the court to direct the Information Ministry to appoint a person of known integrity and impartiality as chairman Pemra with the consensus of all stakeholders.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-20463-IHC-moved-for-appointment-of-impartial-Pemra-chief
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