SC issues notices to Jang, The News for 'misreporting' CJP's remarks

Published November 14, 2018
Justice Nisar distances himself from remarks critical of PTI govt. — File
Justice Nisar distances himself from remarks critical of PTI govt. — File

The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notices to Urdu newspaper Jang and English daily The News for allegedly misreporting a court story, in which the top judiciary had appeared to criticise the government.

The two publications, in their lead stories today, had reported that the Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, while hearing a suo motu case of illegal construction in Banigala, had "remarked that the current government lacked capability and planning".

The top judge today distanced himself from those remarks, adding that "this news is untrue".

"Both the newspapers ran wrong stories," Justice Nisar said. "We had talked about the CDA (Capital Development Authority) in the Banigala case. There is a recording available of the court's proceedings; we can play that."

"[TV] programmes were also done on the basis of this wrong news," Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan said, to which Additional Attorney General Nayyer Rizvi added: "Tickers were also run [on the same]."

Later on, in its official notification, the court said: "We are surprised as the court never made such observations about the federal government. [Those] observations were made against the Capital Development Authority. This is an instance of gross misreporting."

The court issued notices to the publications' printers, publishers and editors, with the directives to respond by Thursday (November 15).

Opinion

Editorial

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.
Concerning measures
Updated 03 Nov, 2024

Concerning measures

The govt must seek political input and consensus on the changes it is seeking to make and be open about its intentions.
Short-lived relief?
03 Nov, 2024

Short-lived relief?

POLICYMAKERS must be jumping with joy. At the close of the first quarter of FY25, the budget posted a consolidated...
Brisk spread
03 Nov, 2024

Brisk spread

THE surge in polio cases has reached distressing levels with a tally of 45 last reported, after two cases emerged in...