The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has suspended broadcasts by ARY News and Bol News for three days for their noncompliance with its orders to implement a time delay system.
It released a statement detailing that both the news channels had persistently disregarded its directives issued on 5 September as per its laws and the decision of the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
The directives required all channels to report their progress and measures taken for the implementation of their time delay mechanisms and editorial board. The PEMRA will issue orders for their live or delayed transmissions after verifying the measures. Therefore, no channel will be permitted to directly broadcast public events during the period under review.
— Report PEMRA (@reportpemra) September 15, 2022
The PEMRA also revealed that it had summoned the CEOs of the suspended channels but they had failed to show up for the hearing and had provided written responses instead.
Note here that the authority cited IHC’s orders in its issued notification on 5 September for ensuring proper implementation of the prescribed mechanism. It also asserted that legal action would be taken against the offenders under Sections 27, 29, 30, and 33 of the PEMRA Ordinance 2022.
It had also suspended broadcasting rights of Bol News and Bol Entertainment on 5 September for their failure to acquire security clearances from the Ministry of Interior.
Bahut Acha kia, yeh dono fasaad ko promote karnay mein poora poora kirdaar ada kar rahay hain.