A Sessions Court in Karachi on Saturday granted an interim pre-arrest bail to the Frontier Constabulary (FC) guard Hasan Abbas, who had slapped a female reporter of a private news channel K-21 in Karachi.
Abbas through his lawyer moved a pre-arrest bail application before an Additional District and Sessions Judge (central), who granted it against a surety bond of Rs50,000.
The judge also issued notice to the prosecution for arguments on the next hearing.
Amid a debate on media ethics and calls for training of security personnel, the police had registered a “counter-case” against the said reporter on the complaint of a National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) official for creating “hindrances in official work”.
Earlier, the reporter Saima Kanwal had lodged a complaint against the Frontier Constabulary guard for allegedly slapping her in the face during the recording of a television show.
The FIR against the Kanwal and her team members carried the sections of the Pakistan Penal Code defining punishment for those who created hindrance in official work and challenged the writ of the state.
SSP Muqaddas Haider confirmed that a case against the journalist and her team had been registered on a written complaint submitted by the Nadra official, Niaz Ahmed.
On Thursday the Gulbahar police registered an FIR [166/2016] against FC guard Hasan Abbas posted at the Nadra office in Liaquatabad for allegedly slapping Kanwal, who went there for recording of her show for K-21 TV channel about the problems being faced by people at the office.
A video clip that showed the FC guard slapping the reporter went viral on social media. Soon afterwards, the incident came to the notice of the authorities.
SSP Haider said the Nadra official had filed his application for an FIR against the news channel’s team the same evening [Thursday] but it took time before it was turned into a formal case.
The police would investigate both cases before taking any further step, he added.
The unsavoury episode triggered a debate about media ethics, code of conduct for journalists and the behaviour of broadcast journalists. It also kicked off discussions about the need for training of security officials performing duties at public places.
Senior journalists, media bodies and professionals from different walks of life strongly condemned the FC guard’s reaction against the reporter.
However, they also questioned Kanwal’s professionalism and the way she was addressing the FC guard and challenging him among dozens of people.
The 29-second video clip appears to show Kanwal trying to grab the guard’s collar.
“Whatever we watched over the video is extremely painful and the security guard’s action is condemnable,” said Fazil Jameeli, president of the Karachi Press Club.
“But I am sorry to say that what the reporter was doing was not journalism at all. Here we need to understand that our broadcast or electronic media is passing through its early years and cannot be termed mature.
“So such episodes can provide lessons to our professional colleagues as to how they are expected to execute their job without assigning themselves the job of policing the state.”
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan ordered a probe into the incident, adds APP news agency.
In a statement, the minister said that misbehaving with journalists while they were performing their duties would not be tolerated.
