Ordinance Promulgated: PEMRA Gets Power to Seal Pakistan’s TV Channel
By Aziz Malik 'Pakistan Times' Federal Bureau Chief

ISLAMABAD: President General Pervez Musharraf on Monday promulgated the amended Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) ordinance 2007.

Under the amended PEMRA Ordinance 2007, the PEMRA has been given powers to seal any building where it believes the illegal transmission is aired.

The PEMRA also has the power to cancel the license of any TV channel and can forfeit the broadcasting equipment for the said reason.

The Ordinance called the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Ordinance, 2007, shall come into force at once.

Text

Following is the Text of the Ordinance:

Ordinance No. XXVI of 2007. An ORDINANCE, to further amend the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority Ordinance, 2002.

WHEREAS it is expedient to further to amend the Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority Ordinance, 2002 (XIII of 2002), for the purposes here in after appearing; AND WHEREAS the National Assembly is not in session and circumstances exist which render it necessary to take immediate action; NOW, THEREFORE, in the exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of Article 89 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the President is pleased to make and promulgate the following Ordinance:-1. Short title, extent and commencement:

(1) This Ordinance may be called the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Ordinance, 2007. (2) It shall come into force at once.

2. Amendment of section 2, Ordinance XIII of 2002:- In the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority Ordinance, 2002 (XIII of 2002),Hereunder referred to as the said Ordinance, in section 2,- (a) in clause (ha) for the letters "DTH" the letters and commas "DTH, IPTV, Mobile TV" shall be substituted; and (b) for clause (j) the following shall be substituted, namely:- (j)-- "Frequency" means the frequency of the electromagnetic waves measured in Hertz and used for transmission;".

3. Amendment of section 4, Ordinance XIII of 2002.- In the said Ordinance,in section 4, sub-section (3) shall be omitted.
4. Amendment of section 20, Ordinance XIII of 2002.- In the said Ordinance, in section 20, in clause (d), after the word "rules" the words "and regulations" shall be inserted.
5. Amendment of section 23, Ordinance XIII of 2002. In the said Ordinance, in section 23, in sub-section (2) in the proviso, for the word "fare" the word "Fair" shall be substituted.
6. Amendment of Section 25, Ordinance XIII of 2002.- In the said Ordinance ,in section 25, in claus e(d), after the word "organization" the words" including any foreign non-governmental organization" shall be added.
7. Amendment of section 27, Ordinance XIII of 2002.- In the said Ordinance ,in section 27,- (a) for the word "therefore," the word "there for" shall be substituted; and (b) after the word "operator" the words "or owner" shall be inserted.

7. Amendment of section 28, Ordinance XIII of 2002.- In the said Ordinance,in section 28, in the marginal note, of the section for the word "of" the word "by" shall be substituted.

9. Amendment of section 29, Ordinance XIII of 2002,- In the said Ordinance,in section 29,- (a) in sub-section (5), the proviso, for the full stop, at the end, a colon shall be substituted and thereafter the following further proviso shall be added, namely:- "Provided further that he Authority or the Chairman may seize a broadcast or distribution service equipment or seal the premises which is operating illegally or in contravention of orders passed under section 30."; and (b) in sub-section (6), for the word "one" a word "ten" shall be substituted.

10. Amendment of section 30, Ordinance XIII of 2002, - In the said Ordinance, in section 30, - (a) in sub section (1), (i) in clause (b), for the colon, at the end, a full stop shall be substituted; and (ii) the proviso shall be omitted, (b) in sub-section (3) the comma and word ", suspended" shall be omitted; and (c) after sub-section (3) following new sub-section shall be added, namely: -"(4) License of a broadcast media may be suspended on any of the grounds specified in sub-section (1), by a duly constituted committee comprising members of the Authority."

11. Insertion of section 39A, Ordinance XIII of 2002: In the saidO rdinance, after section 39, the following new section shall be inserted, namely: "39A. Power of the Authority to make regulations:” The Authority may by notification in the official Gazette, make regulations, not inconsistent with this Ordinance and the rules made there under, to provide for all matters for which provisions is necessary or expedient for carrying out the purpose of this Ordinance."

Law Minister on Ordinance

Meanwhile, according to another report Justice and Human Rights Wasi Zafar said on Monday that all activities of media should remain within the rules and limits of PEMRA.

He was talking to media after inaugural session of 4-day workshop on "Human Rights training for Police" here.

He said press is enjoying complete freedom in the country and there is no restriction on media but every one would have to follow the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) rules and regulations.

Referring to Presidential reference against chief justice, he said government cannot take the reference back, this is a subjudice matter and government would respect the decision of the honorable court.

Earlier in his inaugural address he said protection of human rights is crucial and police plays central role in this regard, this training would help police instructors to adopt international best practices in the areas of human rights.

"When it comes to enforcement of law, a lot depends on the ability and behaviour of police to conduct its operations and management in an effective and efficient manner", he said.

Because of its mandated authority, the police have to deal with all sorts of elements in the society he said, adding adherence and respect for human rights therefore is of prime concern.

He emphasized that police need to build human rights obligations and considerations into their training programs especially with regard to modern policing structures, changing habits and upgrading their operational functions.

"Pakistan fully endorses and upholds the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials," he said.

"Our government is of the view that Human rights are those rights , which are inherent to the human being. They are founded on respect for the dignity and worth of each person", he remarked.

He said "We acknowledge that every single human being is entitled to enjoy his or her human rights without distinction as a race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion , national or social origin, property , birth or other status".

Director General National Police Bureau Dr Shoaib Suddle, Secretary Interior Syad Kamal Shah, former Minister of State for Interior Shehzad Waseem and Head of Human Right wing, Commonwealth Secretariat Rubab Fatima were also present on the occasion.

DG NPB said that a team of foreign trainers would conduct the four-day workshop for a batch of 35 police instructors from inspector to senior superintendent level who have been selected from across the country.

Subjects such as international human rights standards and policing, human rights and police ethics, police powers of search and seizure, maintenance of public order, how police should deal with vulnerable groups including children, women, displaced people and crime victims, community policing and countering terrorism will be covered during the workshop.

The workshop is designed to teach human rights standards through skill-building sessions, interactive discussions and deliberations.●