KARACHI, Jan 11: The Geo petition hit a snag in the Sindh High Court on Friday but was finally decided to be heard on January 21.

The petition, which seeks resumption of Geo News and Geo Super television channel transmissions on cable, came up before a division bench comprising Justices Munib Ahmed Khan and Syed Pir Ali Shah. In a surprise move, the latter declined to hear it for ‘personal reasons’. Justice Shah has recently been elevated from judicial service wherein he was last serving as a district and sessions judge.

The petition was referred back to Chief Justice Mohammad Afzal Soomro, who urgently marked it to another bench comprising Justices Mrs Qaiser Iqbal and Mahmood Alam Rizvi, in compliance with a Supreme Court order remanding it to the high court.

The bench entertained the petition and briefly heard Advocate Mohammad Ali Mazhar, who represents M/s Independent Media Corporation (Pvt) Limited and M/s Birds (Pvt) Limited, the petitioner concerns that own the Geo channels. Deputy Attorney-General Rizwan Ahmed Siddiqui was also called and the bench observed in their presence that the petition should better be heard by the same bench that passed the order impugned in the Supreme Court. It referred to a 1986 Supreme Court judgment holding that a case on remand should be heard by the same bench which disposed it of initially if the bench was available or could be constituted again. Both lawyers agreed to the proposition.

The new bench accordingly recommended to the CJ that the petition may be assigned to the division bench that heard and disposed it of earlier. Before parting with the petition on Friday, however, the bench fixed January 21 as the date of hearing with the consent of the petitioners’ counsel and the DAG, who represents both the federal government and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority.

The previous bench consisted of Justices Munib Ahmed Khan and Rana M. Shamim and since it has been dissolved by the new roaster, it will have to be specially constituted to hear the case afresh next Monday unlike regular benches that hear cases from Tuesday to Friday. The bench had dismissed the petition on the short ground that Article 19 of the Constitution, which ensured the freedom of expression, and other provisions agitated by the petitioners were not available under the state of emergency and the provisional constitution order promulgated on November 3. Without going into the merits of the case, it held the petition not maintainable under the PCO, which then held the field.

Justices Qaiser Iqbal and M.A. Rizvi also asked both the lawyers to submit and exchange their pleadings and all the documents they relied upon by January 21. The pleadings include the Federal government and Pemra comments and the paper book submitted in the Supreme Court by the petitioners/appellants. Under the SC remand order, the petition is to be decided within a month.

The petitioners say that they had also invoked Articles 18, 23 and 25 of the Constitution, which guarantee freedom of trade, business or profession, the right to hold property and equality of citizens. The respondents were asked but failed to submit comments during the previous hearing and Advocate Mazhar contended in the Supreme Court that the petition should not have been dismissed on the question of maintainability once comments were sought from the respondents.

All the channels taken off the air on Nov 3 have since long resumed transmissions. The petitioners’ own entertainment channels, Aag and Geo Entertainment, are back on the cable and there was no justification for continued ban on Geo News and Geo Super, particularly when they are prepared to subscribe to the code of conduct formulated by the Pemra, Advocate Mazhar said in his brief submissions on Friday.