The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority banned the broadcast of any content against judiciary and judges with immediate effect, in orders issued late on Thursday night.

The judiciary has been the subject of much discussion on TV channels and political rallies as the election delay in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkwa was taken up and then decided by the courts.

Judges have also been mentioned in audio leaks that emerged around the case. One alleged audio that was leaked involved a discussion between Pervaiz Elahi and his lawyer talking about getting cases fixed infront of a particular judge.

Another alleged audio leaked on Thursday involved Fawad Chaudhry and and his brother Faisal talking about judges of the Supreme Court and an alleged bribe.

Maryam Nawaz, who is on a tour of the country as chief organiser of the PML-N, has also made attacks on judges accusing them of harboring prejudice against Nawaz Sharif. She has also alleged that some members of the judiciary are sympathetic towards Imran Khan.

The subject of the chief’s justice’s discretionary powers to fix benches has also been in the spotlight in many televised debates after Justice Qazi Faez Isa was excluded from the bench hearing the election delay case.