CJP advised Pemra to complete its job after bringing all stake holders to the table.   — File Photo

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Monday said that a lot needed to be done to arrive at a definition of vulgarity, DawnNews reported.

A three judge bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar was hearing a petition filed by Justice (retd) Wajihuddin and former Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed against obscenity aired on TV channels.

In his remarks, the chief justice said had members of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) done their job right, obscenity could have been controlled.

He said he did not want anyone to say that restrictions were imposed on broadcast material without hearing the points-of-view of concerned parties.

The chief justice advised the Pemra to assemble together all the stakeholders and reach a stance on the matter.

Moreover, Justice Khawaja remarked that 10 years had passed and Pemra had yet to arrive at a conclusive definition of vulgarity. Every individual had their own interpretation of vulgarity and obscenity, he added.

Previously, the Supreme Court had expressed its surprise when the Pemra had stated that the government had neither a policy to monitor TV programmes, especially of foreign channels, nor did it have a clear definition of obscenity.

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