Talking to the media after a function at the National College of Arts (NCA) here, the minister said Geo News was awarded punishment by Pemra for a mistake; it faced the punishment and paid the fine. Now the matter should come to an end and we should move forward, the minister added.

He promised that Geo News will appear on its original numbers on cable very soon. The government is taking legal steps for the purpose and the courts are also taking measures in this regard, he said.

The minister said the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) had never been, and it would never be, party to any move against the Constitution and the law.About the statement of former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani regarding a deal with Pervez Musharraf, the minister said PPP leaders were divided over the issue, while the former president himself had denied making any deal.

The minister said statements about a safe exit for Musharraf by the PPP leaders were contradictory. The PML-N had already made its stance clear and, therefore, the debate on the issue should come to an end now.

Pervaiz Rashid said terrorists had taken the people of Waziristan hostage in their houses for the last 13 to 14 years, but the government would not rest until these people were rehabilitated in their homes in an environment free from terrorism. The information minister said governments had always fulfilled the needs of the defence forces and the people had always offered sacrifices to make the country’s defence strong.

Regarding the situation in Gaza, he said whenever there had been any instance of brutality in any part of the world, the PML-N government had taken a principled stand on the issue. He said the Palestinian ambassador has appreciated Pakistan’s stance and thanked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for the moral support Pakistan has extended to the Palestinians.

To a question, he said India’s defence spending had never been conservative and this was not a special instance. He said the people of Pakistan are brave and the government has everything in perspective, therefore there is no need to worry.

About Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s threat that if the government tries to sabotage the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s August 14 rally it may create a situation similar to the Model Town Lahore tragedy, he said he was at loss to understand how Shah Mehmood could foresee the future and predict that the government was planning any such activity. He said such statements which incite and encourage mob violence should not be issued at all.

About the martyrdom of three Pakistani soldiers, including a Captain, by Afghan forces’ firing, he said the matter had been taken up with the Afghan authorities and there would be no compromise on such issues and they would be sorted out through proper political channels.

APP adds: Pervaiz Rashid said it was a great achievement of the PML-N government that it had got the power generation machinery installed in only seven months. That machinery had been rusting at ports for the past seven years due to the negligence of the previous governments. The plant would start production with full capacity shortly, he added.

He said the government would explore all possible avenues to get cheap electricity for the people, adding that electricity could be purchased from some Central Asian States to meet the country’s needs.

To another question, the minister said: “The armed forces have been doing the rescue work in North Waziristan and soon people would return to their homes safe and sound.” Pervaiz Rashid said it was unfortunate that some elements were talking of revolution and revolt at a time when the armed forces were engaged in a military operation to purge the country of terrorists in the North Waziristan.

“These people want to create hurdles to the ongoing military operation in North Waziristan through their so-called revolution propaganda,” the minister said.Earlier, the minister inaugurated a painting exhibition at the Zahoorul Akhlaq Gallery at the NCA.

Addressing students, the minister said educational institutions like the NCA should be promoted in the country as these institutions promote peace and love through their artwork in the hearts and minds of the people.

He urged the need to change the mindset of the future generations through the message of art and culture against violence. The minister also gave away certificates to students whose artworks had been displayed at the exhibition.

The News

Justice Ijazul Ahsan made these remarks while hearing a petition of the Independent Media Corporation against the closure of Geo News in violation of the SC order. He said the Supreme Court’s order was final and under the Constitution, every individual and institution was bound to adhere to it. The cable operators had no right to block or encrypt any channel. No one could deviate from the apex court’s order and if such a situation cropped up, the court would intervene to correct the situation, he said.

Geo News Lahore Bureau Chief Khawar Naeem Hashmi, Lahore Press Club Secretary Shahbaz Mian, Jang Workers Union President Rukhsana Nazli, Vice President Muhammad Arshad, General Secretary Wasim Babar and a large number of journalists were present in the courtroom.

The Jang Workers Union also moved an application to become a party in the case. However, the judge said the Jang Group had approached the court through a petition and its outcome would benefit its workers as well.

Geo News counsel Behzad Haider and Jam Asif Mehmood told the court that despite the SC order, the cable operators had not restored the Geo News to its old number. They said the cable operators were violating the apex court order and Pakistan Electronic Media Regularity Authority (Pemra) rules, but the authority had taken no action against them. They pointed out that the Geo News was running its transmission but the cable operators were not telecasting it. They said due to the non-airing of the channel on the cable network, it was getting no advertisement. If the Geo News was not restored on the cable network, it was likely that it would be bankrupt that would lead to the expulsion of thousands of its workers.

The counsel said the Sindh High Court had given a precise order to restore the Geo News to its old number and action should be taken against the cable operators declined to abide by the order. However, the Pemra was reluctant to take any action against them.

The court summoned the deputy attorney general on a short notice. DAG Riaz Qadeer appeared before the court and told it that the Pemra had initiated legal action against the cable operators who were not restoring the Geo News to its old number. He said show cause notices had been issued to the violators and they had been summoned on July 11. He requested the court to wait for the outcome of the Pemra meeting with the cable operators.

The Geo counsel said their grievance would not be addressed till the complete restoration of the Geo News transmission to its old number. They said the Pemra had ordered the closure of the Geo News and it was implemented at once. Now the order had been passed for its restoration and the same should also be enforced in letter and spirit with immediate effect.

A cable operators counsel told the court that 117 channels were running their transmission while the cable operators had a capacity to air only 96 channels including the PTV. In such a situation, how could it be determined that a specific channel should be run at a specific number?

At this, the court remarked that the Geo News should be restored to the number at which it was being run on April 19. Under the law, the cable operators had no authority whatsoever to broadcast a channel or block it whimsically. The court would also look into the SC order to determine whether the SC had made it imperative on the cable operators to run a specific channel at a specific number. Had the SC given the cable operators the power to block a channel? The court said and added it would also look into terms and conditions of licenses issued to the cable operators.

The DAG said it would become obvious on July 11 in a meeting with the cable operators whether they had violated the SC order and what punishment be awarded to them in case they were found guilty.

The Geo News counsel again said the Pemra should work strictly in accordance with the law without any fear or favour. The court, however, said let the Pemra hold the meeting with the cable operators and it might result in favour of the Geo News.

Khawar told the court the Geo News was not being seen in 50 per cent areas of Punjab and 80 per cent of Sindh, but the Pemra was sitting idle instead of initiating legal action against the violators. He said his organisation had lost confidence in the Pemra and expected no justice from it. He said the information minister announced that the Geo News had been restored but the ground realty was altogether different as the Pemra took no legal action against the cable operators violating the minister’s order. It was confusing that under whose authority the Pemra was working, he said.

He said workers were worried as they would face ouster and non-payment of salaries as the situation was deteriorating rapidly. The organisation could be shut down if the situation persisted too long. He said the right of freedom of speech was being stifled. He requested the court to take notice of the situation and take steps to safeguard the Geo News from closure. He said the Jang Group had no other forum, expect judiciary, to redress its grievance.

Civil Society representative Abdullah Malik said the Geo News issue was related to human rights as thousands of people were employed in the organisation and its closure would deprive them of their livelihood.

Senior Journalist Amin Hafeez said the court better knew about the modus operandi of the establishment and it should take action against it.The court said it would exercise its judicial power in case of injustice. The judge asked the petitioner to wait till the Pemra decision on July 11.The court adjourned the hearing till July 17 and sought the record of the July 11 meeting.

The News

In its legal notice, the group — which played a role in the Pakistan Movement, in the creation of Pakistan and came into existence much before these institutions — has alleged that because of the uncalled for, baseless allegations of being traitors and furthering an anti-Pakistan agenda, more than 8,000 journalists, workers and professionals attached to the group and their families are not only being harassed but also attacked and tortured across Pakistan.

Geo and the Jang Group have served the notice on the Federation of Pakistan and the ISI through the Ministry of Defence and on Pemra and have demanded that all must publicly apologise to the group and all its workers and their families for levelling absolutely baseless, wrong and shameful allegations without any proof and endangering the lives of thousands of professionals attached with the group.
The lawyers of the Geo and Jang group have made it clear in categorical and the strongest terms in the legal notice served on the ISI and Pemra that the group shall initiate appropriate legal proceedings against all of them in a court of competent jurisdiction for direct damage to repute caused to their clients (Geo and Jang Group and its workers) and also actual losses that they are suffering on a daily basis.

The legal notice served by Geo and the Jang Group on the Ministry of Defence, ISI and Pemra on June 5, 2014 reads;“Legal notice under section 8 of defamation ordinance, 2002.”“We, on behalf and instructions of the Independent Media Corporation (Pvt) Limited (IMC), Independent Newspaper Corporation (Pvt) Limited (INCL), News Publications (Pvt) Limited (NPL), Independent Music Group (Pvt) Limited (IMG), (hereinafter referred to as ‘our clients’) are writing to address you as follows:

“1. That together all our clients along with dozens of other companies from the ‘Jang/Geo Group’, the leading electronic and print media group of Pakistan broadcasting TV channels with the highest rating namely ‘Geo News’, ‘Geo Entertainment’, ‘Geo Tez’, ‘Geo Kahani’ and ‘Geo Super’. The Jang Group also publishes newspapers having the widest circulation in Pakistan namely “Daily Jang” and “The News”.

“2. That our clients are actively involved in the field of journalism, making and broadcasting national/international news, articles, interviews, mega events and current affairs and are considered as the most reliable sources of information by the public at large and enjoy an incontrovertible, overwhelming, unequivocal and an unparalleled reputation both at the national and international level.

“3. That on 19.4.2014, one of the leading columnists and anchorpersons of Pakistan, Hamid Mir, who is associated with our clients, was attacked in Karachi. In the environment of extreme tension and under tremendous pressure of the family of Hamid Mir, our clients’ channel Geo News broadcast a statement of Hamid Mir’s brother Amir Mir.

“4. That subsequent to the above, ISI sent a complaint to the Ministry of Defence which without even providing any evidence/proof, contained baseless and untrue allegations that “Geo Network has a history of acting illegally in furtherance of anti Pakistan agenda.”

“5. That upon receipt of the complaint of ISI, the Ministry of Defence immediately without verification of the allegations levelled in it, forwarded the said complaint containing the allegations regarding our clients having a history of acting on an anti-Pakistan agenda, as it is, to Pemra seeking immediate suspension and cancellation of Geo News’ licence.

“6. That after receiving the above complaints from the ISI through the Ministry of Defence, Pemra too, without seeking any proof/evidence of anti-Pakistani activities of our clients, issued a show cause notice to our clients, accusing them of being involved in anti-Pakistan activities.

“7. That the show-cause notice of Pemra was distributed all over Pakistan including the media of Pakistan that has caused great reputational loss to our clients.

“8. That despite our clients’ various requests to the ISI, the Ministry of Defence and Pemra to provide them evidence on the basis of which such a heinous allegation was levelled by them against our clients, no proof/evidence has been provided to them so far.

“9. That all of you have thus defamed our clients by levelling such false statements to injure their reputation, to lower them in the estimation of others and to reduce them to ridicule, unjust criticism, dislike, contempt or hatred against which this statutory notice is being served to all of you.

“10. That in addition to the reputational loss that our clients have suffered at your hands, this false and malicious allegation due to the current tense political situation in the country, was deliberately aimed at provoking and inciting the masses to engage in physical violence against our clients and thousands of their employees including journalists, putting all their lives at serious risk. You have succeeded in achieving the purpose of the false allegations as soon after having levelled them a smear campaign against our clients has also been started on the ground that our clients are traitors/anti-Pakistan.

“11. That due to your illegal threats and pressure on the cable operators of the country, they first shuffled/showed on last number of the spectrum, the transmission of our clients’ channels, ‘Geo News’, ‘Geo Entertainment’, ‘Geo Kahani’ and ‘Geo Tez’ and now the transmission of these channels have been completely suspended throughout the country.

“12. That similarly, distribution of our clients’ newspapers has also been disturbed/banned in different parts of the country. The newspapers’ distribution vans of our clients are being set ablaze on a daily basis and the employees of our clients have also been threatened and tortured in various parts of the country, on the pretext that our clients are Anti-Pakistan.

“13. That despite our clients’ repeated requests, Pemra and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in utter violation of the statutory provisions have failed to restore the transmission of Geo News and other channels of our clients on their previous position.

“14. That in the above background, our clients have approached the Supreme Court of Pakistan. On 26.05.2014, the Supreme Court disposed of our clients’ application on the basis of Pemra’s counsel, Ibrahim Satti and Pemra’s head legal department, Zahid Malik’s undertaking that Pemra “shall abide by the terms of order dated 13.08.2012 passed in Constitution Petition No 51 of 2010, by which the report of Javed Jabbar, the mediator, was made part of the said order and that the Pemra will ensure that there is no shifting of the channels contrary to or in violation of the order dated 13.08.2012.

“15. That it is, however, regretfully noted that despite clear direction of the Supreme Court, Pemra has till to date not ensured implementation of the SC order in letter and spirit which shows that all of you, in collusion to each other, are bent upon damaging our clients.

“16. That due to your illegal actions, our clients are on a daily basis suffering huge financial loss as transmission of their channels has been illegally suspended and distribution of their newspapers has also been disturbed due to which they are not receiving any advertisements.

“17. That we on behalf of our clients request you to immediately provide our clients all the documentary evidence/proof in support of your allegations that our clients are involved in anti-Pakistani activities.

“18. That in view of the foregoing, our clients having no other option hereby call upon all of you to do the following within 14 days of this legal notice:

i. To stop levelling such defamatory statements;

ii. To broadcast or publish retraction or clarification for accusing our clients as traitors or anti-Pakistan;

iii. To publish an apology in a newspaper and make one through a TV interview in the same manner and in the same prominence;

iv. To restore the transmission of our clients’ channels ‘Geo News’, ‘Geo Entertainment’, ‘Geo Kahani’ and ‘Geo Tez’ to their previous positions all over Pakistan;

v. Not to harass cable operators to illegally suspend the transmissions of our clients’ channels;

vi. Though the defamation caused is immeasurable in monetary terms however, to pay our clients direct reputational damage and actual damage that come around almost to be Rs50,000,000,000 (Fifty billion rupees only).

“20. That if you fail to do the above within 14 days from the date of this legal notice, we have strict instructions from our clients to initiate appropriate legal proceedings against all of you in a court of competent jurisdiction for direct reputational damage caused to our clients and also actual losses that they are suffering on daily basis.

“21. That this legal notice is being served to you without prejudice to all the rights that our clients may be enjoying against you under the prevailing laws.”

The News