PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court Justice Ijaz Anwar has issued a contempt of court notice to the KP finance secretary, seeking an explanation for the non-payment of arrears to newspapers for government advertisements, despite earlier court orders.
The court bench took this action on a contempt of court petition filed by Tahir Farooq, Chairman of the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, through Shahid Naseem Chamkani and Ahsan Masood.
The court was informed that a writ petition had been filed in 2023 seeking payment of approximately Rs1.8 billion in government advertisement dues owed to newspapers by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government. The arrears were to be addressed during the hearing of the writ petition. However, the High Court disposed of the writ on May 22, 2024, while allowing time for reconciliation and ordering the payment of arrears to the newspapers.
Despite the passage of significant time, the payments have still not been made, prompting the initiation of contempt proceedings against the concerned authorities. The bench was informed that reconciliation is nearly complete and Rs800 million has been requested from the Finance Department. However, the department has yet to release the funds.
Justice Ijaz Anwar, on this basis, issued a notice to the finance secretary regarding the contempt petition, sought an explanation at the next hearing, and adjourned the proceedings.
