Case against ARY News withdrawn, says CM

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published 12 years ago

The Balochistan Chief Minister revealed that a case against ARY News was based on a misunderstanding. He stated that the government will investigate the origins of the case.

Summary

QUETTA: A ‘misunderstanding’ led to the registration of a case against ARY News, Balochistan Chief Minister Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch (picture) announced on Tuesday.

He told the provincial assembly he has been informed the case was registered on a directive of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. However, the court registrar clarified no such directive was issued.

The chief minister said the government would probe the matter to find out on whose instructions the case was filed.

The case against the channel was registered after it aired footage of militants’ attack on Ziarat Residency where Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah spent the last days of his life.   

ARY News CEO Salman Iqbal, Senior Executive Director Owais Tohid, Quetta Bureau Chief Shahid Rind and Islamabad Bureau Chief Sabir Shakir had been named in the FIR. The decision angered journalists who held protests across the country on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Salman warned the Balochistan government that nationwide protests would continue if the FIR was not formally taken back by Friday, ARY News reported.
 
 

KEY POINTS:

• Case against ARY News withdrawn by Balochistan CM.
• Misunderstanding cited as the reason for the case's registration.
• No directive from the Supreme Court issued regarding the case.
• Protests erupted among journalists across the country.
• Government to probe who instructed the case filing.