LAHORE, Nov 6: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday extended stay against airing of television programmes ‘intended to scandalise’ the judiciary and directed the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to ensure implementation of the order.

Pleading a petition against such programmes, lawyer Azhar Siddique told the court that after the issuance of the stay order on Oct 16 last, the television channels continued to hold talk shows ‘amounting to malign the judges’.

He said at a talk show aired on Oct 26 by a private television channel Senator Faisal Raza Abidi used derogatory remarks against the chief justice of Pakistan. It showed Pemra had failed to get the stay order implemented, he added.

A Pemra representative, however, told the court that a show-cause notice had been issued to the television channel in question.

Justice Nasir Saeed Sheikh directed Pemra chairman and others to file a written reply in this regard and adjourned hearing of the petition till Nov 13.

Adjourned: The Lahore High Court chief justice on Tuesday adjourned hearing of a petition against unscheduled loadshedding and exemption to VVIPs premises in the country.

Earlier, counsel for Wapda told the court that steps were being taken to control power theft and to remove problems of the consumers. He said electricity theft resulted in forced loadshedding. He said power distribution companies would be provided police force to deal with electricity thieves and the system of grid stations was being computerised.

He sought more time to file a complete report about the steps being taken by the government in order to control loadshedding.

At this the chief justice adjourned further hearing till Nov 16.

The petition was filed by the Judicial Activism Panel. It was pleaded that the failure in supplying electricity was violation of the fundamental rights as envisaged in the Constitution.