Balochistan High Court stays action on cases against Geo

QUETTA: The Balochistan High Court on Thursday issued a stay order with regard to the proceedings on the cases filed against a programme of the Geo TV morning show ‘Utho Jago Pakistan’.
A two-member bench of the Balochistan High Court (BHC), comprising Justice Muhammad Noor Muskaanzai and Justice Muhammad Hashim Kakar, issued the stay order on a petition filed by the Independent Media Corporation (IMC) in which it was held that according to Article 13 of the Constitution, courts cannot award a sentence to a person on a single crime more than once.
The court was told that with reference to the programme of ‘Utho Jago Pakistan’, 75 cases had been registered, out of which four were lodged in Balochistan.The court was further apprised that as per the law, a case can only be registered in the area where the incident has taken place. The programme in question was broadcast from Karachi, a relevant case was registered in the same city but discharged afterwards by the court, and therefore, there was no reason for registering cases in other cities.
The court was requested to discharge these cases. At this, the court issued a stay order on these cases in Balochistan, issued notices to the advocate general and prosecutor general and adjourned the hearing till December 16. On behalf of the IMC, senior lawyer Saim Hashmi Advocate and another lawyer, Barrister Zara pursued the case.
Moreover, the court of Judicial Magistrate Jaam Saka held a hearing of a petition filed with regard to the Geo TV programme, ‘Utho Jago Pakistan’. During the hearing, senior lawyer, Najeebullah Khan, Advocate, represented the IMC and completing the arguments, held that the case, which was heard in the court, was registered under Section 295/A and this case could only be registered with permission from the government and no person had the prerogative for filing a petition for filing a case under this Section. It was stated that because this case was registered contrary to the law, therefore, the FIR should be annulled. The court reserved its verdict with regard to this case.
Source: The News