ISLAMABAD: Expressing strong displeasure over the recently-announced electronic media code of ethics, the Senate committee on information and broadcasting questioned the information ministry over why the draft it prepared was not taken into consideration.

The committee, headed by Senator Kamil Ali Agha, met Wednesday at the Parliament House and directed the information ministry to inform the Supreme Court about facts related to the media code announced by the government.

The Senate body was told that the code of conduct was issued and approved by the federal government and was prepared by a committee set up by the prime minister.

Editorial: Electronic Media Code of Conduct 2015: Regulating the media.

The committee insisted that its draft, which was prepared after consultation with all stakeholders, should have been considered and adopted.

The Senate committee also raised questions over the matter concerning the age requirement for Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) chairman announced in a recent advertisement, and observed that it appeared the government wanted to induct “some crony to this lucrative position through such an advertisement.”

The information ministry told the committee that the ‘Access to Information’ draft bill was with the cabinet division and had not as yet been put up before the federal cabinet for approval. The committee decided to write a letter to the cabinet division on the matter.

The committee also expressed displeasure over Indian models appearing on Pakistan’s TV channels, observing that “on one hand Indian forces were shelling mortars into Pakistan while on the other hand Pakistani TV channels were promoting Indian culture and models,” asking for the practice to be stopped forthwith.

The committee castigated Pemra for not exercising its authority to regulate TV channels and their content and for not ensuring implementation of rules and regulations.

Read: Unclear media code may cause more confusion.

Last month, the Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage formally issued Code of Conduct 2015 for amendments in the Pemra Rules, 2009, under which the electronic media has been directed to ensure that no hate speech is aired in any of its program

A notification to this effect was issued per the directions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan during the hearing of a Pemra case during which the apex court directed the authority to issue the code of conduct for media which would come into force immediately.

Take a look: Pemra issues guidelines for TV channels.