ISLAMABAD: A petitioner expressed regrets in the Supreme Court on Monday that the Jamaat-i-Islami had lost interest after the death of one of its leaders in pursuing a case relating to what he called obscenity aired by the electronic media.
A three-judge bench headed by Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja had taken up petitions seeking a directive to appropriately define obscenity, with the purpose of checking media content, particularly in dramas telecast by different channels.
Hanif Abbas, whose petition was being heard along with one by former JI chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed and a letter by retired Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed to the chief justice, said the counsel representing Qazi Hussain did not take interest in the case after his death, although leaders of his party used to say that the television sets should be set on fire because of obscene programmes.
The petitioners had raised concern about alleged illegal airing of Indian channels by cable networks, obscene and vulgar dramas on Pakistani channels, immoral advertisements, illegal CD channels distributed by cable networks allegedly in connivance with Pemra, and in particular the entertainment segments in the news bulletins on Pakistani news channels.
Citing a particular programme of a TV channel Mr Abbas said he had secured edicts from a number of religious leaders who had declared that all those involved in making the programme and those watching it had rendered themselves apostate.
The court said the petitioner should not declare others apostate even if he wanted banning of the programmes which failed to meet the criteria he had set.
Justice Khawaja said it was not a Pakistan-specific issue and even the Supreme Court of the United Stated had not found an objective definition of obscenity.
A media organisation, the Cross Current, also filed a petition through its counsel Dr Tariq Hassan, accusing the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) of having failed to discharge its regulatory duties to preserve the socio-cultural values of the society and freedom of trade and business enshrined in the constitution.