Amid the political drama that erupted following Pakistan Police's attempt to arrest its former Prime Minister Imran Khan, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has now prohibited Khan's "provocative" speech from telecasting.
The latest order came hours after Khan skipped his arrest and addressed party workers outside his Zaman Park residence in Lahore. Earlier, the election commission found Khan guilty of unlawfully selling gifts from foreign dignitaries-- which is dubbed as "Toshakhana case". Later the court issued an arrest warrant against him.
However, on Sunday, when police reached his residence for arrest, he reportedly fled. After a few hours, the PTI chief addressed party workers in Lahore where he alleged the administration of working in parallel with "foreign powers"-- a claim he has been making since his ouster in April last year.
What leads to a ban?
Also, the cricketer turned politician lashed out at government leaders, alleging that they had stashed their wealth overseas and were given protection in legal cases by former army chief Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa, reported Dawn. Subsequently, the authority directed the Pemra to prohibit any speeches of Khan, citing violation of basic principles of the constitution.
It said that Khan levelled baseless allegations and spread hate speech through his provocative statements against state institutions and officers which is prejudicial to the maintenance of law and order and is likely to disturb public peace and tranquillity, according to the order.
It said that Khan levelled baseless allegations and spread hate speech through his provocative statements against state institutions and officers which is prejudicial to the maintenance of law and order and is likely to disturb public peace and tranquillity, Dawn quoted the order.
Pemra calls it a violation of the apex court order
Pemra said that licences telecasted the content without the effective utilisation of the time delay mechanism, in violation of the authority’s laws and judgements by the apex court.
“… therefore, the competent authority i.e. chairman Pemra in view of the above-mentioned background and reasons, in the exercise of delegated powers of the authority vested in Section 27(a) of the Pemra Ordinance 2002 as amended by Pemra (Amendment) Act 2007, hereby prohibits broadcast/rebroadcast of speech(s)/press talks (recorded or live) of Imran Khan on all satellite TV channels with immediate effect,” the order said.
Not the first time
It is worth mentioning this was not the first time when Pemra imposed a ban on Khan's speeches. Earlier in August, the body had imposed similar bans after he allegedly threatened Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Zeba Chaudhry, and the Islamabad Police IG and DIG, of “consequences” after the judge handed over physical custody of the ex-PM’s aide, Shahbaz Gill, to police for two days.
