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ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) wrapped up the matter of a suo motu notice taken by a bench of the apex court against the harassment of journalists, ruling that only the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) could take suo motu notice.
Today’s verdict was announced by a five-judge larger bench led by Acting Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial. The bench maintained that, “No other bench can invoke suo motu jurisdiction.”
The five-judge bench also ruled that the August 20 order by another SC bench on a petition related to the harassment of journalists stood “recalled” and all filings stood “disposed of”.
It added that the “substantive claims” made in the application by the Press Association of the Supreme Court (PAS) and other petitioners would be placed in front of the chief justice for consideration.
On Friday, a two-member SC bench consisting of Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel had observed that since the application had raised matters of public importance, it met the criteria for invoking Article 184(3) of the Constitution under which suo motu is justified.
In its August 20 order, the Supreme Court had asked three senior officials to appear before it to hear the government’s version on the rising incidents of harassment of journalists.
During the hearing today, Justice Bandial said there was “no difference of opinion” on the harassment of journalists. He said that the application filed by the Press Association of Supreme Court and others would still be valid and action would be taken.
However, he noted that the Supreme Court had to take action in accordance with the law and its authority. “If something is done to journalists, Supreme Court will stand as a wall with them. Protecting the Constitution and ensuring basic rights is the responsibility of the judiciary,” observed Justice Ahsan.