ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Information has suspended Assistant Director Saadullah Mahar after reports surfaced that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government had planned a law to control and regulate print media without taking any stakeholders on board.
According to a notification issued by the information ministry on Monday, an inquiry committee has also been constituted over 'Pakistan Print Media Regulatory Ordinance, 2017'.
The inquiry committee is headed by External Publicity Wing Director General Shafqat Jalil.
The committee will send findings to the information secretary within three days, the notification reads. Until then, two senior officials of the ministry, Nasir Jamal and Tahir Hussain, have been made officers on special duty.
The notification states that neither State Minister for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb nor the information secretary issued any directives for the formation of a law to regulate print media.
However, the development sent alarm bells ringing within the journalist community who accused the government of not taking them into confidence for planning any such law.
While addressing the media in Islamabad, the state minister for information said three to four letters were written in her name. However, she added, no law to impose restrictions on the print media was being prepared.
She condemned the news issued regarding the Press Council of Pakistan, which suggested that the information ministry intended to disband the council.
The minister confirmed that a three-member committee has been constituted over the matter and that its report would be made public.