PEMRA fines channel for allegations against Pak Army, federal ministers

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has suspended talk show anchor Dr Shahid Masood and his programme on Bol television for 30 days, while imposing a fine of one million rupees on the network for making baseless allegations against the Pakistan Army and the federal ministers for finance and defence.

The decision was made on the recommendations of the Sindh Council of Complaints (CoC) after the channel and the anchor failed to prove their point over complaints lodged against them, reports the Dawn.

According to the complaint submitted PEMRA by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Masood in his show on January 24 had made allegations of a defamatory nature about an alleged meeting with senior military leadership in Rawalpindi, with the mala fide and ulterior motives of attacking the integrity of the federal minister.

Dar claimed that no such meeting had taken place and the allegations were false.

Pemra said that the TV channel and its host along with the co-host had failed to defend their position or present any evidence in favour of such comments on February 2 and February 10.

"Instead they kept seeking adjournments by the CoC," a Pemra official said.