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ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory jurisdiction (PEMRA) lacks the legal jurisdiction to suspend any TV channel’s license.
According to the judgment, the Supreme Court supports a decision reached by the Sindh High Court, which stated that the chairman of PEMRA lacks the legal jurisdiction to suspend the license of any station.
A three-member Supreme Court bench in Islamabad made the decision, with Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik issuing a nine-page ruling.
The Court cited Section 13 of the PEMRA regulation, which provides unequivocally that neither the Chairman nor any other individual has the right to suspend a license.
While the Supreme Court confirmed that conditions for suspending a broadcast media license exist, it is unclear who in PEMRA has the authority to suspend licenses. The court determined that rules must be put in place to clarify the issue.
The court acknowledged that the delegation of powers occurred at PEMRA’s 156th meeting, but the organization’s lawyer was unable to present a solid explanation for the decision.
