PESHAWAR, Sept 22: The Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) has expressed concern over delay in formation of the Pakistan Press Council.

In a meeting of the standing committee of the CPNE, presided over by its president Altaf Hussain Qureshi here on Monday, the council demanded formation of the Pakistan Press Council without further delay, says a Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors press release.

Speaking on the occasion, Secretary-General CPNE, Jabbar Khatak, said that the government was deferring the issue so that it could have a free hand in taking measures against newspapers and other media.

The standing committee was of the view that the Access to Information Ordinance was inadequate to meet journalistic requirements and was introduced without consulting the Council of Pakistan News-paper Editors and taking into consideration the necessities of the freedom of press. Similarly, the committee opined, the Defamation Law had also put freedom of press at risk.

Criticizing the fact that there were no rules to implement the registration ordinance for print and other media, the committee said the industry was facing severe problems regarding newspaper declarations.

Taking advantage of that, the committee added, bureaucracy was trying to divest the provinces of their press registration rights and give it to the federal government.

The next meeting of the standing committee of the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors will be held in Quetta in October.