Pakistan Supreme Court imposes ban on airing Indian content on television channels

By Gurpreet Kaur

on October 29, 2018

Pakistan's Supreme Court on Saturday overruled the Lahore High Court's 2017 order on of screening foreign content and imposed a complete ban on airing of Indian shows on television channels in the country. As per a report in a leading news agency, a three-member bench of the top court headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar, was hearing a case filed by United Producers Association in the Karachi registry.

Announcing the decision, the judge pointed out, "They are trying to (obstruct the construction) of our dam and we cannot even ban their channels?" Reportedly, he further ordered that the broadcast of Indian shows should be "shut down" and the authorities should "only air appropriate content. For the unversed, the CJP hinted at the ongoing clashes between India and Pakistan over the construction of Diamer-Bhasha dam in Pakistan's north region.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) had also imposed a ban in 2016 on Indian content on local television and FM radio channels. However, in 2017, the Lahore High Court declared the PEMRA-imposed ban as null and declared that "the world has become a global village". Now within a year, Pakistan SC has put a ban once again.

The neighbouring country's decision to regulate the airing of Indian content came in wake of India's decision to ban Pakistan's shows and artists in the aftermath of the Uri Attacks in 2016.