No breathing space

No breathing space media is consistently under pressure as is borne out by the summons issued by Islamabad High Court to Jang/Geo group to answer for the anti-judiciary advertisements published in The News International in 23 and 24 May editions. The media outlet pointed out that these ads were sponsored by the family of Barrister Fahad Malik, the deceased son of the sister of a prominent politician Muhammadmian Soomro, who was gunned down in Islamabad in 2016. It called on Chief Justice of Pakistan to take notice, claiming that the killers had struck a deal with the ruling judge in the case. The family urged the CJP to allow the case to be transferred to an impartial and non-partisan judge of dignity. The Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court stated in this respect that the newspaper had printed advertisements against the judiciary for commercial purposes and that the judiciary will not turn a blind eye as printing such an advertisement is a serious issue. Despite the newspaper’s editor apologising to the court, the IHC CJ reiterated that this matter could not be ignored and asked the owner of the group Mir Shakilur Rehman to personally appear before the court. TW

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