The federal government has decided in principle to give the military courts another extension, this time for an indefinite period of time, in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s announcement that it shall be exclusively delving into the issue of Filmazia’s objectionable content. Earlier, in the hearing of an appeal against objectionable content, Pemra chief Saleem Baig had told the court that 65 percent of the content on Filmazia was Indian. At the conclusion of the hearing, the CJP announced that the apex court – all seventeen of the justices – is going to devote itself exclusively to the monitoring of content from Filmazia. The Law and Justice Division, in response, has not only extended the military courts, but also extended their ambit to hear civil and commercial cases as well. “If they can send people to be hanged, no big deal letting them decide civil cases either,” said Dr Fazal Bangash, chairperson, Law Department, University of Peshawar.

Source: Pakistan Today January 09, 2019 13:52 UTC