ISLAMABAD:
The Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting on Thursday reviewed concerns over notices issued by the NCCIA to a newspaper columnist over an article published on June 11, 2024.
An NCCIA official told the committee that the complaint against columnist Toufiq Butt was filed by Pakistan Administrative Services Association (PAS) Punjab President Aman Babar, who objected to the use of the term “Bureau-Corrupts” for bureaucrats, claiming that it had damaged the reputation of PAS officers.
The official said no FIR had been registered and no criminal case had been initiated, adding that the agency was merely conducting an inquiry to record the columnist’s version after receiving the complaint. He said notices were issued on June 19 and June 29 after the columnist failed to appear before the agency.
He maintained that the NCCIA was required to consider complaints filed by aggrieved parties and seek the version of the respondents before arriving at any conclusion. This led to a debate among journalists attending the meeting, several of whom questioned whether the agency had jurisdiction over newspaper content.
The journalists argued that print publications fell under the jurisdiction of the Press Council of Pakistan, while electronic media were regulated by Pemra. Some participants warned that entertaining such complaints could create a “backdoor” to pressure journalists and have a chilling effect on press freedom.
Others argued that when the same content became independently available on social media, it fell within the scope of cyber law, while some maintained that rebroadcasting a newspaper column online should not change its legal status.
