ISLAMABAD: During the hearing of the case about accountability of media, Asma Jahangir, counsel for two female journalists, contended that the Supreme Court is defaming the media persons by putting their names on its website.
On the other hand, the court refused to remove the names of renowned journalists, who approached the court to delete them from its website. Asma Jahangir appeared on behalf of two female journalists, namely Fareeha Idrees and Rameeza Nizami, whose names were mentioned in the list of the 282 journalists who received Rs 177,988, 450 in payments and also visited foreign countries, payments for which were made from the secret fund of the Information Ministry.
The counsel told the three-member bench, headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, that the Supreme Court’s website was not a gossip column and her clients had not visited foreign countries, but their names were included in the list of people who received money from the secret fund. Giving arguments about Article 19-A of the constitution, Asma questioned why was the Supreme Court not putting the names of over 7,500 death penalty prisoners on its website.
She further asked, “Why is the Supreme Court not putting the details of its accounts expenditure on its website and not sending its registrar before the Public Accounts Committee for the scrutiny of its accounts.” The hearing of the case has been adjourned until May 2. – Dailytimes
