ISLAMABAD, April 22: The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) has served a show-cause notice on Aaj TV, a private television channel, for airing news, talk shows and other programmes on the current judicial crisis and threatened it with closure.

The authority has also sought an explanation from the chief executive officer of the television channel in person within three days to avoid a legal action.

In a notice issued here on

Sunday, it said that the TV channel had violated the Pemra Ordinance in its news, talk shows and programmes on an issue pending with the Supreme Judicial Council.

The notice said that the channel had also failed to produce a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the external publicity wing of the ministry of information and broadcasting which was required for the processing of short-term uplinking licence.

Pemra has also warned all private TV channels not to air programmes casting aspersions on the judiciary and “integrity of the armed forces of Pakistan,” besides contents which were likely to encourage and incite violence or contained anything against maintenance of law and order or which promoted anti-national or anti-state attitudes.