Government seeks time to respond to petition seeking legislation on rights of electronic media journalists

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published 7 years ago

ISLAMABAD - The government on Tuesday sought time from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for submitting a reply to a petition seeking legislation to end the plight of journalists in electronic media.

A single bench of IHC presided over by Justice Amir Farooq heard the case.

Deputy Attorney General (DAG) appeared in the court while advocate Saeed Khurshid represented the journalists working in the electronic media.

The counsel for the petitioner said that rights of journalists working in electronic media are not protected. They are not even paid their salaries on time and are often removed from service at one’s sweet will.

He asked the court to order information and broadcasting ministry to legislate for ending the plight of journalists. He further asked for the laws enacted for print media to be applied to electronic media until a separate legislation is not formed.

The petition was filed by Farooq Faisal Khan in 2014 but information ministry has not filed a reply as yet.

The federation, information ministry, the Pakistan Broadcasters Association and Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) were made respondents in the petition. - Online