LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Monday directed a counsel for the incarcerated PTI Chairman Imran Khan to furnish the material available on social media to establish there was a ban on the coverage of the former premier in electronic media.

Justice Shams Mahmood Mirza was hearing a petition of Imran Khan questioning alleged violation of a stay order against ban on the media coverage of his speeches.

Advocate Ahmad Pansota appeared on behalf of the petitioner and stated the material available on YouTube had no link with the content of the television channels.

The judge observed that the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) denied the imposition of any ban on the petitioner, but the journalists of the mainstream media claimed otherwise on the social media.

The counsel said the government violated a court stay order and banned coverage of the petitioner in the media. He said the government also jailed the petitioner, besides silencing his voice.

Arguing that the law mandated equal media coverage of all political leaders, the counsel asked the court to take action against Pemra authorities for defying the stay order.

Justice Mirza directed the petitioner’s counsel to place on record more material to demonstrate the contention raised in the petition.

The judge adjourned the hearing till Oct 10.

Pemra had slapped the ban after Imran Khan lashed out at former army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa for, what he called, protecting incumbent rulers in their alleged corruption cases.

The court had suspended the notification of the ban and referred the matter to a full bench already seized with similar matters.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2023