SC freezes information ministry’s secret fund

QUETTA: Supreme Court of Pakistan has ordered the freezing of Ministry of Information’s secret fund till September 12, Geo News reported.

The order was passed by a two-judge bench during the hearing of a petition filed by Geo TV’s senior anchorperson Hamid Mir and veteran journalist Absar Alam for the establishment of a media accountability commission here in the Supreme Court’s Quetta registry.

Justice Jawad S Khawaja and Justice Khilji Arid Hussian are on the bench.

During the course of hearing, Justice Khilji inquired if there was any mechanism in place to sell advertisements to the media?

Hamid Mir informed the honourable court that power corridors know about the secret fund and its utilization. He added that Pakistan Peoples Party back in 2002 had too accused the then government of misusing the said fund. He further said that allocations for this fund were also part of the national budget.

Going forward, Justice Jawad S Khawja asked as to what was the ministry of information’s job? To which, Absar Alam said the ministry did nothing more than pressurize the media.

The court adjourned the hearing till September 12 ordering the freezing of ministry of information’s secret fund till then.