SC adjourns hearing of Geo TV channels case for 7th
By Adnan Rafique

ISLAMABAD—A three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of Geo TV channels case for January 7 after accepting the request of the Deputy Attorney General regarding the adjournment of the case. Deputy Attorney General Nahida Mehboob Elahi representing the respondents the Federation and PEMRA requested the court to adjourn the case as the court notice was received on December 31 and the Attorney General for Pakistan was out of the country.
The Deputy Attorney General apprised the court that this was a very important case and the Attorney General is scheduled to return in a couple of days and would appear in this case personally.
Nahida Mehboob Elahi said, “I am not in a position to make any statement in the absence of the Attorney General and without seeking instructions from him (Attorney General).”
The counsel of the petitioner, Muhammad Ali Mazhar representing Independent Media Corporation and Birds Private Limited apprised the court that the PEMRA had already restored satellite transmissions of two channels “Geo Entertainment” and “Aag” so far. However, transmissions of the remaining two channels “Geo News” and “Geo Super” are still suspended even after the submission of Code of Conduct according to the PEMRA Rules, he added.
Code of Conduct submitted by the petitioner for the restoration of two Geo channels “Geo News” and “Geo Super” is under consideration and there is no decision on it so far, the Deputy Attorney General said.
The Deputy Attorney General also informed the bench about the non-availability of the paper books (Documents of the case) and requested the court to direct the counsel of the petitioner to provide the documents to the office of the Attorney General.
The counsel of the petitioner assured the court that documents would be provided to the office of the Attorney General and said there was a procedure regarding the obtaining of paper books.
Both the organizations have filed two appeals in the Supreme Court against the decision of the Sindh High Court regarding the ban on their satellite transmissions.