SC restores foreign content ban on Pakistani TV channels

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has restored the government’s policy of ban on telecast of foreign content on television channels in the country, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

A bench of the apex court approved an appeal of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) against the Lahore High Court’s verdict for hearing and suspended the high court’s decision.

The bench said that no private television channel will now telecast the Indian content. “You people still want to watch the Indian content,” Justice Gulzar Ahmed asked.

The counsel of PEMRA said that a policy announced in 2006 allowed 10 percent foreign content on television channels. But, telecast of the Indian content was conditioned with telecast of Pakistani content on India’s television channels.

India has imposed ban over Pakistani content on its television channels and the PEMRA in a tit for tat move banned Indian content on Pakistan’s channels, the counsel further argued.

Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan, a member of the bench, remarked that the high court have no jurisdiction to intervene in the powers of the regulatory authority.

The bench adjourned hearing of the case for an indefinite period.

PEMRA had imposed a complete ban on airing Indian content on local television and FM radio channels on October 19, 2016.

The LHC in 2017, had lifted the Pemra-imposed ban, declaring it null and void as the federal government had no objections regarding it.

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