Outrage in Pakistan as court blacks out Indian channels Read more: Outrage in Pakistan as court blacks out Indian channels

ISLAMABAD: In move that blocks the information highway across Pakistan and comes as a rude shock to the people, Pakistan's supreme court on Friday directed the electronic media regulatory authority to stop all cable operators from airing TV channels without landing rights in Pakistan. The stations off air as a result are predominantly Indian news, entertainment and sports channels, as also a clutch of other foreign and local entertainment, sports and religious networks.

The question of landing rights arose after Pakistan's Geo and ARY news channels lodged a petition in the apex court because local cable operators were forced to switch off their transmission for broadcasting news of a shoe hurled at President Asif Ali Zardari during his visit to the UK earlier this month.

The channels no longer on view are Times Now, BBC, CNN, Sony, Euro News, Star Plus, CCTV 9, IQRA, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera (English) apart from a host of others. As a result of the ban, sports lovers were unable to watch the first day of the Test match between Pakistan and England at Lords on Star Sports. The Supreme Court chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary observed that Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) must act against all private TV channels running transmissions without paying broadcasting license fee.

The court also issued notice to PEMRA chairman Mushtaq Malik for presenting false statements in the court about the illegal closure of private TV channels. Later, PEMRA chairman Mushtaq, affirming that their decision was taken at the behest of the Supreme Court, said, "Cable operators have been directed to stop broadcasting all channels that do not have landing rights in Pakistan. Many callers are furious and are not ready to listen to our explanation," said Muhammad Sadiq of Pakistan Cable Operator's Association.

Abdul Jabbar, PEMRA's executive member, said they are not targeting Indian channels but banning all unregistered channels. He also said, "There's outrage against blackout of Indian channels because they are very popular here."