KARACHI: The electronic media watchdog has issued a warning to Geo Television for airing inappropriate content in its serial Tere Bin.

A notice posted on Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Autho­rity (Pemra) official Twitter account stated that the content aired during episode 47 of the serial was “in clear violation of several clauses of the Electronic Media Code of Conduct, 2015”.

The channel has been warned to remove the objectionable content and ensure such scenes were not part of any episode in future.

The serial, created by 7th Sky Entertainment, and aired on Geo Television has seen tremendous success and has been widely acclaimed by the audience.

However, the audience was displeased when the trailer for the 47th episode was posted on social media earlier this week, Dawn.com reported.

As “ShameOnTereBin” became a top trend on Twitter, the writer and the producers had to put out clarifications urging people not to jump to conclusions before watching the episode.

This is not Pemra’s first warning to a channel over objectionable content in one of their serials. In recent years, the regulator has taken action against several TV serials including Jalan, Pyar Ke Sadkay and Ishqiya.

But Pemra’s punitive actions were dealt a blow by the judiciary when the channel airing Jalan, went to the Sindh High Court (SHC). The court struck down the actions, prompting Pemra to appeal in the Supreme Court.

While upholding the SHC order, the Supreme Court, in April, ruled that the fundamental rights of freedom of expression and the right to information apply not only to ideas that are favourably received but also to those which offend, shock or disturb the state or any other sector of the population.

The top court said Pemra could only take action after a review of the objectionable aspect of the drama serial in question had been referred to the council of complaints.

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2023