An FIR was lodged on the complaint of a lawyer in May against the management of Geo TV, Shaista Lodhi, the host of Utho Jago Pakistan programme, and some others on charges that they aired objectionable content in the morning show.

Abdul Maroof, special public prosecutor of ATC-III, wrote a letter to the SHO of Mithadar police station on Saturday, stating that, in his view, basic elements of criminal liability were missing in the case due to absence of “mens rea”. He argued that the offence caused to viewers was unintended.

(“Mens rea” is a legal term which literally means “guilty mind”. This forms the basis for a notion that those without sufficient mental capability cannot be judged guilty of a crime. In courts, “mens rea” must be established to prove that a crime has been committed.)

Maroof maintained that since lodging a case in respect of broadcasting offences was barred under Section 34 of the Pemra Ordinance 2002, the case had become illegal, adding that the contents alleged in the FIR fell within the ambit of broadcasting offences case was lodged at Mithadar police station under Sections 295-A [deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs], 298-A [use of derogatory remarks, etc in respect of the Holy Prophet (PBUH)] and 34 (common intention) of Pakistan Penal Code, read with Section 7 of Anti-terrorism Act 1997.

DAWN

The advice came when senior counsel Mohammad Akram Sheikh, representing Geo TV network, drew the attention of a three-judge bench to the registration of 45 FIRs in different parts of the country and a “hate campaign” launched against Geo TV and the Jang group.

“Why don’t you go to high courts… when the transfer jurisdiction vests with the high courts,” Justice Jawwad S, Khawaja said, adding that it was not a final order but “do take a look on this aspect”.

The court was hearing a petition moved by the Independent Media Corporation and which seeks an order that restrains TV channels from airing allegations against other channels.

Already at the centre of a controversy revolving around allegations of maligning the country’s most powerful spy agency, the operation of the Geo TV has been suspended by Pemra for 15 days.

The petition has been filed against the backdrop of the May 14 morning show “Utho Jago Pakistan” hosted by Dr Shaista Lodhi, which kick-started a campaign against Geo TV by rival media groups.

The petition has requested the Supreme Court to order police and the lower courts all over the country to submit in the apex court copies of criminal complaints, FIRs and 22A petitions containing allegations of blasphemy regarding the morning show.

The apex court has also been requested to issue directives for consolidation of all the FIRs registered in different parts of the country and stopping police from registering fresh ones.

The court asked the advocate generals of the four provinces to submit statements about the position taken by the provincial governments on the Geo petition, which would be taken up again on Wednesday next.

Akram Sheikh cited an example from the Indian Supreme Court which, in the 2013 Baba Ram Dev case, had ordered consolidation of some 200 FIRs on the basis of which the Delhi High Court quashed a case against renowned painter M.F. Hussain.

He had aroused the ire of Hindu extremists for what they perceived his controversial painting of “Bharat Mata” and faced a number of cases for hurting the sentiments of the majority of Indians.

The counsel said that as an editor of daily ‘Jang’ had been attacked and five vehicles of the media group burnt, it was difficult for it to pursue cases in different courts of the country.

DAWN

However, after an hour of statements and counter-statements and utter confusion, the management of the authority said that the meeting itself was illegal, adding that any decisions taken by it were null and void.

The chaos and confusion began on Tuesday evening when Pemra member Israr Abbasi, flanked by other members, Mian Shams and Fareeha Iftikhar, announced their decision to the media waiting in front of Pemra headquarters.

Mr Abbasi announced that the Pemra board had decided to suspend the licences of the three television channels owned by the Geo TV network and ordered that the television channels offices be sealed.

However, he added that the final decision on the revocation of the licences will be announced on May 28, when the next Pemra meeting is to be held which will also be attended by government representatives.

Tuesday’s meeting was not attended by any of the seven government officials who are also part of Pemra’s board. Only the private members representing the four provinces and AJK / GB attended the meeting.

“The Council of Complaints in its meeting held in Karachi today has recommended that the licence of Geo Entertainment be cancelled over its sacrilegious morning show as over 10,000 public complaints were received against it,” Mr Abbasi said, adding that “another complaint has already been received from the ministry of defence against Geo News.”

Geo’s legal troubles include one complaint against the manner in which it accused the ISI of being involved in the attack on journalist Hamid Mir and the morning show which is seen to have hurt religious sentiments.

“All members unanimously decided that the licence for Geo News be cancelled. However, due to a legal formality that could not be completed, we have sent our recommendations to the Council of Complaints, advising that they respond before May 28, the date for our next meeting,” Mian Shams told the media during the briefing.

In the media blitz that followed the Pemra members insisted that their decision was legal and that the channels would have to shut down at midnight.

Fareeha Iftikhar, another member, said that the meeting was legal and the required quorum, under clause 4 of Pemra Ordinance, of one third members had been met – according to her, five out of 12 members attended the meeting.

“In the absence of the chairman, the board is the authority that can take such decisions,” she argued, adding that “Geo will be shut down from tonight and if the channel management does not abide by the board decision, we will approach the courts.”

However, it was not long before another announcement was made, taking the wind out of the assertions made by the five members who attended the Pemra meeting.

A statement issued on the directives of Executive Member Kalimuddin Tipu disowned the decisions announced by Mr Abbasi and others.

This statement was later sent to the press from the government’s Public Information Department, making it clear which side the government stood with.

“It is also clarified that today’s meeting was called without following the laid down procedures and thus had no legal standing. According to Rule 3(4) of Pemra Rules 2009, the Chairman or… at least 07 members can call a meeting. This was an informal meeting attended by five members,” the Pemra press release said.

The spokesman of Pemra said that the decision had no legal validity. It was further pointed out that a meeting could not be held till the law ministry responded. “The meeting was to be held after legal opinion had been received from the law ministry, as was decided in the last meeting held on May 9.”

This view was later upheld by the Information Minister, Pervez Rashid, who also holds the law portfolio. He told Dawn that a meeting could only be called by any two of the three member committee headed by Pervaiz Rathore.

“Incidentally, Pervaiz Rathore and Ismail Shah were missing and Mr Israr Abbasi had already resigned from this committee so how could he have called a board meeting,” the minister added.

At the last meeting, Mr Abbasi had walked out and threatened to quit because his suggestions were being ignored. However, Mr Israr Abbasi continued to stick to his guns and insist that the meeting was legal.

Mir Shakeel moves IHC

Meanwhile, the Chairman of Geo TV, Mir Shakeelur Rehman, moved the Islamabad High Court on Tuesday for quashment of an FIR registered against him for alleged blasphemy and terrorism for airing controversial contents.

Following an order passed by an additional district and sessions judge on May 17, Margalla Police of Islamabad had registered the FIR against Mr Rehman, Geo TV anchor Shaista Lodhi, actress Veena Malik and her husband Asad Bashir Khattak for allegedly profaning holy personages in a programme aired on May 14.

In his petition, Mr Rehman stated that after the airing of the programme, Ms Lodhi apologised more than 26 times; on the contrary a rival channel, ARY News, repeated the same programme over 60 times.

The petitioner stated that because blasphemy laws have become more stringent, there was a tendency to label the accusation of blasphemy by Muslims against Muslims for settling their scores.

He said that he did not play any role in script writing, production or direction of the said episode even then he has been implicated in the case.

The single-judge IHC bench of Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui will hear the matter on Wednesday.

Dawn

The fatwa was prompted by an episode of the Geo Entertainment morning show ‘Utho Jago Pakistan’ aired a day earlier, which contained blasphemous content. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) also issued a show cause notice to Geo TV on Thursday over the same issue.

While passing the decree, SIC scholars said that after targeting the country’s security institutions in a smear campaign, Geo TV had now started harming Islamic principles. This, they said, is the agenda of anti-Pakistan forces.

In the episode of the morning show in question, the host and the guests carried out untoward activities while a sacred hymn was being read out, the scholars said. The indecent attitude of the host and guests was totally inappropriate, they added.

Showing disrespect to holy figures is strictly forbidden, said the scholars. In this instance, they said, not even a hint of respect was shown towards them by the host and guests. This act of Geo TV has hurt the religious sentiments of millions of Muslims worldwide, the scholars added.

The SIC scholars said they and other citizens expected the media to nurture religious and ethical values instead of spreading vulgarity in the name of entertainment. They also pointed out it was the duty of the government to prevent such content from being broadcast.

Participating in programmes where religious personalities are disrespected is strictly forbidden, the scholars said. If the government fails to stop such programmes from being aired, it becomes the duty of citizens to boycott them, they added.

The scholars said Geo TV cannot be forgiven for its ‘indecent, inappropriate, anti-Pakistan’ behaviour and demanded that the network’s owners, administration and management be tried immediately for blasphemy.

The religious scholars who issued the fatwa against Geo TV included Sheikhul Hadees Allama, Muhammad Sharif Rizvi, Mufti Muhammad Saeed Rizvi, Mufti Muhammad Akbar Rizvi, Allama Hamid and Sarfaraz Qadri, among others.

Express Tribune

Taking immediate cognisance of the controversial content aired in the morning show of the Geo Entertainment Channel, “Utho Jago Pakistan” hosted by Shaista Lodhi, on May 14, PEMRA has served a show-cause notice to the channel and has called for immediate explanation, said a press release on Thursday. PEMRA said the aired content was in violation of clauses (a), (i) & (p) of PEMRA Code of Conduct, contained in Schedule A of PEMRA Rules 2009 which states that:

(1) No programme shall be aired which- (a) passes derogatory remarks about any religion or sect or community or uses visuals or words contemptuous of religious sects and ethnic groups or which promotes communal and sectarian attitudes or disharmony; (i) is against basic cultural values, morality and good manners; (p) contains material which is against ideology of Pakistan or Islamic values.

PEMRA has received more than 5,000 public complaints against the programme of the channel through PEMRA Complaints Call Centre and website. The complaints are being referred to the Council of Complaints in the light of Section 26 of PEMRA Act 2007, for deciding the matter on emergent basis within a week.

Meanwhile, the TV channel has launched an inquiry against the show over what it terms was an “inadvertent mistake”. Earlier, Dr Shaista Lodhi, the host of the show, apologized over the “inadvertent mistake” in the programme. According to her statement aired on Thursday, the remorseful host said that she along with the entire team of the show feels sorry and tenders an apology “for the circumstances that were triggered unintentionally due to the content of the programme broadcast yesterday”.

Dr Shaista said that she seeks forgiveness from the Almighty Allah over an unintended gaffe that hurt the sentiments of the people. The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) Thursday demanded the government ban Geo TV just like YouTube had been banned. “The satellite news channel has started ‘attacking’ the sacraments of Islam, thus it must be taken off air,” alleged SIC leader Sahibzada Hamid Raza.

Raza said that the SIC would move the Supreme Court of Pakistan against this violation. “Geo TV must be tried for blasphemy against the holy Quran and Islamic traditions,” he said. The SIC chief stressed that social reformation was one of media’s key responsibilities.

“The mass media with their extensive outreach must always be careful about the content they are airing. They must design it in a way that it does not hurt anyone’s sentiments, especially religious,” Raza said. He also announced that the SIC would stage a protest sit-in against the channel on Sunday. “We will protest until the satellite channel is banned”, he said.

Daily Times