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‘Being slandered through controlled media’, Justice Isa tells Supreme Court

Justice Qazi Faez Isa said on Monday that he was being slandered and that propaganda targeting him was being broadcast through “controlled” media.

The judge made these remarks in the Supreme Court during a hearing on an application moved by him, seeking live telecast of court proceedings of the review petition in his case.

In his petition, Justice Isa said the move to broadcast the proceedings live would bring more transparency and discipline in the court’s conduct.

A 10-judge SC bench, presided by Justice Umar Ata Bandial, is hearing the petition.

“I am being publicly maligned. Propaganda is being spread against me through controlled media,” said Justice Isa. He claimed that the government had “destroyed” the media and would now set its sights on social media platforms such as YouTube.

He said if live coverage was allowed of his case then it would be clear for all to see what is “just and true”.

“They are afraid of truth and justice. They are scared,” the petitioner judge said.

Justice Bandial asked the Additional Attorney General (AAG) Aamir Rehman about the remarks of Justice Isa on restrictions on the media. The AAG responded that while the court had always spoken about the freedom of the media, it had never ruled that live coverage of court proceedings was the right of the media.

Rehman said the federal government had declared Justice Isa’s application as inadmissible, adding that “[court] proceedings in review petitions cannot be requested for live coverage,” adding that Section 184/3 of the Constitution could not be applied to review cases.

“No new stance can be taken in review cases. The law mentions hearings in an open court,” Rehman said, adding that there was nothing in the law about airing those hearings in the media.

Live broadcast, the AAG said, was the right of the media and not any individual’s, adding that no media house had requested permission to broadcast live from the court.

“Does freedom of expression mean live broadcast?” Rehman asked.

To this, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah said technology had aided the court in many matters and helped to create ease, citing the example of hearings via video link.

“The federal government should not tell us what to do. Live broadcast is [under] the authority of the court, not of the federal government,” said Justice Shah.

The AAG responded that it was the stance of the government that live telecast was not a judicial concern but an administrative matter of the SC.

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