ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Monday disposed of a petition challenging Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority’s (Pemra) ban on the live broadcast of speeches of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, while giving the media watchdog to regulate Imran’s speeches.

During the hearing, Chief Justice Athar Minallah pointed out Imran’s statement at a rally in Faisalabad yesterday, in which he said that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) - the two main partners in the coalition government - were against early elections as they are more interested in the appointment of the next army chief.

He also chastised Imran’s lawyer, Barrister Ali Zafar, over the ousted premier’s remarks regarding the patriotism of the army chief.

“By making such statements, are you trying to hurt the morale of the armed forces,” inquired Justice Minallah.

He asked Barrister Zafar if the statement given by Imran Khan on the previous day was “constitutional” and “correct”. “Is this how political leadership works? Do we put everything at stake for this game of thrones?”

He told the PTI chief’s counsel not to expect relief from the courts. “That is the court’s prerogative.”

Justice Minallah also pointed out that no one has the right to issue “certificates” of patriotism.

“At this time, the armed forces are rescuing the people. Can anyone justify this statement? When you make a statement in public, it has more impact,” he said.

Time-delay mechanism

Earlier, the IHC had suspended the Pemra ban on the broadcast of Imran Khan’s live speeches, which was placed on the instructions of the top court’s recommendation.

In response to a query, Pemra’s counsel informed the court that a time-delay mechanism had been put in place. He said that instruction was not for a particular person.

The Islamabad High Court, while disposing of the petition against the ban on broadcasting Imran’s speech live, ordered Pemra to regulate it in the light of the Supreme Court’s decision.

Background

On August 21, Pemra issued instructions to TV channels placing a ban on the live telecast of the PTI chief’s speeches. In the six-page declaration, it was said that Imran’s live speeches were likely to create a disturbance. TV channels were allowed to play recorded speeches that were redacted.

The statement further said that Imran Khan was constantly making baseless accusations against the institutions in his speeches. The statements against the institutions and officers are a violation of Article 19 (freedom of speech).

The notification issued also included a reference to Imran Khan’s speech at F-9 Park.

In that speech, Imran Khan threatened action against the police chiefs of Islamabad over the alleged torture of his chief of staff Shahbaz Gill while in police custody. He also made a threat against judge Zeba Chaudhry, who had sent Gill on physical remand.