Supreme Court issues show-cause notices to 34 TV channels again in contempt case

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published last year

ISLAMABAD—The Supreme Court accepted the apologies of two lawmakers in a contempt of court case on Friday but issued show-cause notices to 34 media channels again, including 26 whose explanations were deemed "not justifiable."

In May, a three-member SC bench led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa issued contempt notices to Senator Faisal Vawda and MNA Mustafa Kamal of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan for making malicious allegations against the judiciary and its judges.

After accepting the lawmakers' apologies, the Chief Justice observed that the replies from 26 of the 34 channels were "not signed by any representatives of the TV channels and submitted under the signatures of their counsels." He stated that these replies could not be accepted.

Upon reviewing the replies, the Chief Justice noted that the TV channels argued the press conferences of the two lawmakers were aired live in the public interest under Article 19A of the Constitution. However, the counsel for these channels conceded that some content of one of the press conferences did constitute contempt.

Finding the explanations unsatisfactory, the Chief Justice proceeded to issue again show-cause notices to the TV channels involved.