The Supreme Court suspended the decision passed by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and ordered the restoration of Neo News transmission, 24NewsHD TV channel reported on Monday.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Yahya Afridi was hearing an appeal filed by the Neo News against the IHC’s judgment.
The Supreme Court also directed the TV channel to move the IHC for relief against the PEMRA (Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority) regulations.
Earlier, the counsel for Neo News, Ali Zafar, during the hearing argued that two principles were clear in law: firstly, no new auxiliary laws could be enacted against the basic law and, secondly, no new legislation could be done against existing law.
He said the PEMRA defined the regulations using the executive authority and such changes were possible only through rules.
Ali, however, added that PEMRA had the powers to stop transmission in case of airing content which was against the public interest.
When Justice Yahya Afridi asked why he didn’t raise these points before the IHC, he replied that they had challenged the PEMRA’s decisions.