ISLAMABAD, Jan 7: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Geo Television channels to re-submit an amended petition before the Sindh High Court (SHC) against a ban on its transmissions and directed the high court to decide the matter on merit within a month.

A three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, Justice Mohammad Moosa K. Leghari and Justice Chaudhry Ejaz Yousuf while disposing of the case directed the SHC to commence regular hearing on the amended petition by January 11.

The bench had taken up the petitions of the Independent Media Corporation (Pvt) Limited and the Birds Private Limited against curbs on the private television channel. They are seeking restoration order of their satellite transmissions by setting aside the SHC judgment, which earlier had dismissed their petitions on technical grounds filed during emergency rule.

At that time courts could not exercise their jurisdiction under Article 199 of the Constitution as the state of emergency had been clamped by President Pervez Musharraf on November 3.

Moments before proclaiming the state of emergency, the transmissions of all private television channels, except the state-controlled Pakistan Television, were put off air.

Later, the Pemra Ordinance was amended and after getting assurance from almost all the private channels the transmissions were restored except that of the Geo News. On Monday, Advocate Mohammad Ali Mazhar, the legal counsel representing the petitioners pleaded before the court that Geo News and its sports channel ‘Geo-Super’ were still not being allowed to beam their regular transmission even after the lifting of emergency despite the fact that the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) had already restored the satellite transmissions of two of its subsidiaries, namely Geo-Entertainment and Geo-Aag.

He pleaded that the curbs on two Geo channels were in sheer violation of the law as well as the Constitution jeopardizing the jobs of over 4,500 of its employees who had not been paid salary for a month.

The time being consumed on the court battle against the curbs could result in serious retrenchment of the staff, he feared.

It is strange that the programmes of Geo-News and Geo-Super are still suspended even after the submission of Code of Conduct according to the Pemra Rules, he wondered.

When the Pemra has issued no show-cause notices against the channels over any violation of the Code of Conduct, he questioned, then why their transmissions had been put off-air.

He said his clients still possessed the landing rights, valid license issued by the Pemra and that the unjustified ban was hampering their business adversely in violation of the right guaranteed under Article 19 of the right to business.

Meanwhile Attorney General Malik Mohammad Qayyum, representing the government, informed the court that the government was seriously considering the matter since it involved the freedom of expression.

He also conceded that the SHC should have decided the case on merit instead of knocking these out on technical grounds.