The Islamabad High Court (IHC) in its verdict on Wednesday — a detailed judgement of which was made available today — partially suspended a single-judge ruling which had ordered television channels to stop broadcasting game shows and "obscene, indecent and immoral" content during Ramazan.

Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, while hearing a case on implementation of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority's (Pemra) code of conduct for Ramazan transmissions and morning shows, had ordered on May 9 to put an end to the airing of programmes like 'Neelam Ghar' and those "appearing to be like a circus show" for the duration of the holy month.

The judge — who had taken a strong exception to the "circus" that programmes fronted by popular hosts like Dr Amir Liaquat, Sahir Lodhi, Fahad Mustafa and Waseem Badami had become — had said in the order that channels engaged in airing or spreading "obscene, indecent and immoral" content would be dealt with in accordance to penal provisions.

Take a look: Greed and desire: The new face of Ramazan?

Subsequently, a private TV channel, as well as the Pakistan Broadcasters Association had appealed against the judge's verdict.

On Wednesday, an IHC bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani suspended several points contained in Justice Siddiqui's May 9 order.

According to the detailed judgement made available on Friday, the bench upheld a ban on lottery shows from the original order that had said: "No programme suggestive of containing lottery and gambling, even apparently for a noble purpose like Haj/Umrah tickets etc, shall be promoted to air either live or recorded."

The bench suspended the point in the order calling for a "complete ban on advertisements, dramas and films of foreign origin".

It also suspended the point ordering TV channels to air the call to prayer five times a day, and a ban on TV channels from running advertisements five minutes prior to the breaking of the fast.

The IHC also suspended the order calling for the constitution of a committee to oversee the implementation of the Pemra code of conduct, as well as another order to the media watchdog telling it to submit a report on implementation of the IHC order after the first 10 days of the holy month.

The court said that those points contained within Justice Siddiqui's order were suspended which had no legal support.

The two-member bench, however, asked Pemra to take measures to ensure decorum in broadcasts during the holy month.

Opinion

Editorial

Smog hazard
Updated 05 Nov, 2024

Smog hazard

The catastrophe unfolding in Lahore is a product of authorities’ repeated failure to recognise environmental impact of rapid urbanisation.
Monetary policy
05 Nov, 2024

Monetary policy

IN an aggressive move, the State Bank on Monday reduced its key policy rate by a hefty 250bps to 15pc. This is the...
Cultural power
05 Nov, 2024

Cultural power

AS vital modes of communication, art and culture have the power to overcome social and international barriers....
Disregarding CCI
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Disregarding CCI

The failure to regularly convene CCI meetings means that the process of democratic decision-making is falling apart.
Defeating TB
04 Nov, 2024

Defeating TB

CONSIDERING the fact that Pakistan has the fifth highest burden of tuberculosis in the world as per the World Health...
Ceasefire charade
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Ceasefire charade

The US talks of peace, while simultaneously arming and funding their Israeli allies, are doomed to fail, and are little more than a charade.