ISLAMABAD, April 16: The Supreme Court on Monday summoned the editor-in-chief of Geo/Jang Group, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, to appear in court on Tuesday and explain why employees of his media group have not been paid for the past three months.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar issued the directions while hearing a case about the media commission, which was formed by the SC in 2013 to review major points of concern in mass media against the terms of references (ToRs) formulated by the court. While addressing Geo TV’s anchorperson Hamid Mir, who was a petitioner in the media commission case, the CJP remarked that some reporters had approached him with the complaint that their salaries are a paltry Rs12,000 and even that isn’t paid for as long as three months at times. Justice Nisar asked Mir if someone could formulate their budget in Rs12,000 and suggested that the journalist also raise his voice for such reporters. “These reporters are your assets,” the CJP told Mir, observing that anchorpersons conduct their programmes based on news collected by the reporters. During the hearing, the CJP asked Mir how much salary he was receiving from Geo TV. The anchorperson chose not to answer directly, saying that his salary too hasn’t been issued for three months. The CJP observed that an anchor is paid Rs5.2 million and another Rs3.2 million by the media group. When Mir claimed that it was not true, the CJP remarked that he has a record of the salaries. Justice Nisar then ordered Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, who is also the chief editor and publisher of The News and Urdu daily Jang, to personally appear before the court on Tuesday and explain the non-payment of salaries to media workers employed by Geo/Jang group. – Agencies
