NAUSHAHRO FEROZE, April 30 A court has told 12 government employees moonlighting as newsmen not to attend official functions and stop calling themselves journalists for one year.

The senior civil judge of Naushahro Feroze on Friday passed the restraining order on a petition filed by Hafiz Abdul Haq Panhwar, a journalist, seeking cancellation of the membership of those press club members who, according to him, were government employees as well.

The judge granted a temporary injunction, restraining the 12 men from working for their television channels or newspapers till they were in government service.

The judge further ruled that four of the defendants who had won elections for different posts in the Naushahro Feroze Press Club would cease to hold their offices. The four are Amjad Ali Memon, who is a junior school teacher and also represents daily Sindh, Yousuf Ali Mangi (tubewell operator for Scarp, a wing of irrigation department, and also correspondent for daily Naun Sij), Kishan Raja (sweeper in taluka municipal administration) and Ghulam Mustafa Tagar (primary school teacher, correspondent for Dhoom TV and daily Nation).

The district officer (education), a divisional engineer of Scarp (irrigation), a district information officer and the district coordination officer have also been named defendants in the case.

Zahid Rajpar, president of the Naushahro Feroze Press Club, told Dawn that the 12 defendants had filed an appeal for a one-year injunction against the court order.