ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), while hearing a case related to ban on airing Indian dramas and other content on Pakistani private channels, on Thursday issued notices to the parties and adjourned further proceedings for an indefinite period.
A three-member FCC bench headed by Chief Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan issued the notices after a preliminary hearing.
In 2016, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) had decided in a meeting that Pakistani channels would not air Indian content, although at the time of issuing licences, channels had been permitted to broadcast 10 percent Indian content.
Later, in 2017, a single bench headed by the then Lahore High Court chief justice, Mansoor Ali Shah, suspended Pemra’s notification.
Separately, another two-member FCC bench headed by Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi heard a case regarding the dismissal of employees hired during the caretaker government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and issued a notice to the provincial government. During the hearing, Khushal Khan, counsel for the petitioner, argued that his client was hired after fulfilling all legal requirements, but the current provincial government dismissed him immediately after coming to power. Justice Rizvi pointed out that the KP government carried out the dismissals on the basis of its own legislation.
Later, the court issued notices to the Higher Education Department and the KP advocate general.
Separately, another two-member FCC bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq Khan and Justice Rozi Khan issued notices to the attorney general and other parties in a petition filed against the requirement of 25 years of legal practice for lawyers wishing to contest the recent elections of the Pakistan Bar Council.
The petitioner’s counsel argued that according to the law, only those candidates may participate in the PBC elections who have at least 20 years of high court practice and a five-year Supreme Court licence. He submitted that the overall requirement of 25 years of legal practice for a candidate is illogical and contradictory to the Constitution.
He contended that even for the position of PBC chairman, there is no such requirement, and for a judge of FCC, 20 years of high court practice is considered sufficient. Later, the court issued notices to AG and other parties and adjourned further proceedings for date-in-office.
Meanwhile, Chief Justice (CJ) of the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), Amin-ud-Din Khan, visited the record room of the newly established court and directed that case files of constitutional nature be transferred from the Supreme Court to the Federal Constitutional Court as soon as possible.
According to a press release, Justice Ali Baqar Najafi and Justice Arshad Hussain Shah were also present on the occasion. They also visited the help desk established for litigants.
Meanwhile, office-bearers of the Islamabad High Court Bar Association also met the Chief Justice.
