The Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) on Monday said that a complaint has been lodged by three of its members — AabTak, 24News and CapitalTV — against the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) for "taking their channels off air from cable networks without assigning a reason or giving them a hearing".

In a statement issued today, the PBA "condemned taking off air" the three channels. Pemra has yet to comment on the development.

The PBA demanded Pemra to "restore these channels immediately and follow its laid down rules in case there was any complaint against these channels or they had violated the code of conduct".

"By not giving them the right of hearing and unilaterally taking them off-air was against all norms of justice and threatened freedom of expression," added the statement.

This development comes a day after the media regulatory body issued notices to 21 TV channels for the "unedited live telecast" of PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz's explosive press conference in Lahore on Saturday.

The regulatory authority had said that the unedited live telecast of Maryam's speech "against [the] judiciary and state institutions" was in violation of Pemra's laws, code of conduct and the Supreme Court's orders.