SC issues contempt of court notice to Jang group for inaccurate reporting

ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court of Pakistan issued a contempt of court notice to Pakistan's leading Jang group over inaccurate reporting in the purview of Panama papers, here on Monday.

During today's hearing, the apex court took strong exception to the stories published in Jang group's newspaper 'The News' and issued contempt of court notice to its editor, publisher and reporter,  seeking a reply within a span of seven days.

“The media seems to have already handed out the verdict on channels and newspapers,” Justice Ejaz Afzal remarked.

“[Nonetheless,] media reports cannot influence the court and we know what needs to be done,” he continued.

“We are not as immature as to not understand what is happening here,” he concluded.

The notice was issued in the backdrop of multiple stories with the most noticeable one being the latest one published by reporter Ahmad Noorani titled 'Panama JIT ‘doesn’t find PM guilty,’ but his sons'.

According to the story citing sources close to Joint Investigation Team, the inquiry panel cleared the premier in its final report but found his sons guilty.

The story was published hours before the six-member Joint Investigation Team was set to submit the final report to the Supreme Court officially.

Apart from the directives regarding Jang group, the top court also sought information from the government regarding the funds it distributed to media outlets in terms of advertisements.

Soon after the notice was served, journalists linked to the group took to microblogging website Twitter and clarified the policy of the group while throwing weight behind the said reporter.

Facts r sacred. Any wrong info needs accntbility bt to single out 1 reporter &disregard mind-boggling misreporting elsewhere is v disturbing

— Syed Talat Hussain (@TalatHussain12) July 10, 2017

I'm with Jang Group for 10 years now. Never pressured into reporting what I found incorrect. Never pushed into saying what I found wrong. https://t.co/rGy0YlglH9

— Umar Cheema (@UmarCheema1) July 10, 2017

TV channels discussed JIT 4 thousands of hours n told viewers 'inside information' bt no notice taken by SC, only @Ahmad_Noorani singled out

— Murtaza Ali Shah (@MurtazaViews) July 10, 2017

Best of Luck Top Reporters @Ahmad_Noorani 👍🏼

— Nausheen Yusuf (@nausheenyusuf) July 10, 2017