LAHORE, March 18: The federal government accused media organisations on Monday of misreporting activities of President Asif Ali Zardari and ignoring clarifications issued by the presidency.

Additional Attorney General Abdul Hayee Gillani produced before a five-judge full bench of the Lahore High Court text of the clarifications issued by the presidency in response to news items about ‘political’ activities of the president during his recent visit to Lahore.

The bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justices Nasir Saeed Sheikh, Sheikh Najamul Hassan, Ijazul Ahsan and Syed Mansoor Ali Shah had taken up a petition seeking contempt of court proceedings against President Zardari for not complying with the LHC judgment of May 12, 2011 against the president holding political office.

AAG Abdul Hayee, who was advancing arguments in the absence of federation’s counsel Wasim Sajjad, asked how could the news about president’s activities deem to be authentic when media personnel had been kept three kilometres away from Bilawal House in Lahore. But the bench was not satisfied with the plea and said the language of clarifications was not effective.

The presidency only disputed the facts of media reports, but did not deny them, Chief Justice Bandial observed while going through the clarifications.

When the AAG insisted that the media did not carry contradictions issued by the presidency, the chief justice said: “It appears that the presidency is helpless.”

When he asked about a public meeting held by the president in Multan, the AAG said it was not a violation of the LHC judgment.

The chief justice said the presidency should make sincere efforts and commitment to implement the court’s order. “Press freedom is a fundamental right and courts have a duty to protect it. We are not inclined in the proceedings to enter into the controversy whether a newspaper has justification for a report it has published. This is a matter for the respondent (president) to attend,” he observed.

The petitioner’s counsel Azhar Siddique submitted a list of office-bearers of the PPP and PPP (Parliamentarians) to establish that the PPP, headed by President Zardari as its co-chairman, was also involved in political activities.

After going through the list, the chief justice observed that both the PPP and PPP (Parliamentarians) were being headed by almost the same persons but with different posts. Most of the PPP office-bearers are either members of the National Assembly or the Senate.

The chief justice directed the AAG to submit a reply to this effect. The bench adjourned the hearing to Friday and ordered the AAG to come up with a statement that resolved the matter instead of drawing the court into considering measures for obtaining obedience of its judgment.

The bench ordered that if counsel Wasim Sajjad was not available because of his engagement in the Supreme Court, the case be fixed on Saturday at 9am.

“Until the next hearing, the president shall ensure that the order issued on Feb 15 this year is duly respected and complied with by him,” the order said, adding that the president should also refrain from indulging in activities in the public arena.