JournalismPakistan.com
May 23, 2022

ISLAMABAD—The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has demanded the immediate appointment of the judge of the Implementation Tribunal for Newspapers Employees (ITNE), which is being delayed due to reasons best known to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

PFUJ President Shahzada Zulfiqar and Secretary-General Nasir Zaidi, in a joint statement, said that for the last more than two years, the ITNE has been without a judge. It has resulted in the pendency of hundreds of cases filed by journalists. It is the only forum available to redress the grievances of journalists and media workers against newspaper management and owners.

“This is a highly alarming situation that despite Islamabad High Court directions, the judge of ITNE is not being appointed, and the court directions are being ignored,” they said.

They said that due to the unavailability of a judge of ITNE, journalists and the media workers were facing hardships and financial constraints. Therefore “further delay will be a criminal negligence on the part of the authorities,” they added.

They also demanded the appointment of ITNE judges in provincial capitals, Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, and Peshawar, apart from the federal capital, to provide swift justice to journalists and the media workers.