LHC bars Pakistani TV Channels To air Indian and Foreign Films: Manish Tewari Slams Pakistan over the ban

LHC bars Pakistani TV Channels To air Indian and Foreign Films: Manish  Tewari Slams Pakistan over the ban. The Lahore High Court has barred all the Pakistani TV Channels to air Indian and Foreign Films and drama serials. The court said that the foreign content should not be aired in the country as it is creating panic and outrage among audiences. The LHC Justice Khalid Mahmood Khan mentioned that the Indian drama serials and films were included in "Negative List" under the current bilateral trade rule.

The next hearing of the petition is on 12^th December and the justice  Khalid demanded a detailed reply in this regard from Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) and the federal government.

LHC has issued this order over the petition of controversial TV talk show host Mubashir Lucman. He filed the petition last month for the ban on foreign content airing in the country and said that the Indian drama serials and films were being imported in violation of Pakistani regulations.

Indian films that are completely shot in India and are sponsored by the Indian could not be aired in the country, he added. The government of Pakistan had permitted to import Indian and other foreign content under the statutory regulatory order (SRO) issued in 2006, but it’s a clear infringement of Pakistan's import policy and the rules of PEMRA, said Lucman Counsel.

He added that the PEMRA fined televisions channels for the infringement of the rules but unsuccessful to bar them from airing foreign content. The Judge said that the foreign content included in Negative List and cannot be imported due to bilateral trade between India and Pakistan. And the issuance of SRO can not change the rules.

None of the Pakistani TV Channels stopped airing Indian and Turkish serials in the country, despite the court order.

On the other hand the ban on the airing of Indian Content in the country the Indian Information and Broadcast Minister Manish Tewari expressed his views on Twitter. He tweeted that

“The jingoists should know film and TV serials are ideas and ideas can’t be barred/banned. Pak govt must remove them from negative list ASAP”