Government bans media from reporting “derogatory” content about judiciary

The federal government on Thursday followed a Supreme Court order and barred television channels and newspapers from broadcasting or publishing anything derogatory about the judiciary.

The notice issued by the Press Information Division (PID) referred to the Supreme Court’s May 17 order which had issued explanation notices to Independent Senator Faisal Vawda and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Mustafa Kamal for contempt of court over a press conference criticising the judiciary.

A three-judge bench headed by Supreme Court Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and including Justices Irfan Saadat Khan and Naeem Akhtar Afghan issued the written order on May 18 in its own case regarding a press conference by Vawda and Kamal targeting the judiciary and judges.

The order also barred the media from broadcasting or publishing anything that constitutes contempt of court, warning that failure to comply could result in legal action.

“Television stations and all persons who broadcast, re-broadcast and/or publish material constituting contempt of court may be committing contempt of court. They should therefore desist from doing so, failing which, they too may be prosecuted for contempt of court,” the PID cited the Supreme Court order in a notice issued today.

The court issued show-cause notices to Vawda and Kamal saying that prima facie, their press conference amounted to contempt of court and gave them an opportunity to file their explanation and counterargument within two weeks of receiving the show-cause notice.

They were also directed to appear in court on June 5.

The court’s written order noted that on May 15, 2024, Senator Vawda held a press conference at the National Press Club in Islamabad which was broadcast live by several television channels.

During the press conference, he made several malicious and serious allegations against the judiciary, made comments about higher court judges and spoke about pending cases including those pending before this court, the order stated. The press conference was also streamed on the internet and social media platforms and excerpts of his speech were published in various newspapers.

While earmarking Senator Vawda’s case as Criminal Petitioner No. 6 of 2024, the court noted that on May 16, 2024, Member of Parliament Kamal had held a similar press conference at the National Press Club in Islamabad, which was broadcast live by several television channels.