ISLAMABAD: Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday issued show-cause notices to the anchor and analysts of Geo TV programme ‘Report Card’.

The notices were issued to anchor Ayesha Bakhsh, analysts Imtiaz Alam and Hassan Nisar as well as chief executive officer of the channel, Mir Ibrahim Rehman.

Justice Siddiqui was hearing a contempt of court case against an episode of the programme during which the anchor “ridiculed” the court’s verdict about a ban on Valentine’s Day celebrations.

The court had directed the district administration to take action against any such activity in the federal capital.

The order had also asked the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to ensure that no programme was telecast in connection with Valentine’s Day.

Justice Siddiqui observed that instead of complying with the said directions, the programme’s anchor as well as the analysts ridiculed the judgement.

The court summoned the team on Feb 27 and directed Pemra to run the episode at the next hearing.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2018