Cancellation of Bol licence not linked with Exact’s affairs: Senator Pervaiz Rashid

Lahore: Federal Minister for Information,Broadcasting Senator Pervaiz Rashid on Monday informed the Senate that cancellation of licence of Bol channel was not linked with the affairs of Exact company.

The Interior Ministry cancelled the licence in July 2013 due to non-fulfillment of proper criteria by the channel, while Exact scandal surfaced later, he said while winding up debate on a motion of Senator Taj Haider about the closure of Bol media group as a consequence of action against an information technology (IT) company.

The minister said Bol’s licence was not cancelled due to the Exact’s issue rather it was was cancelled for not adopting the proper procedure. The way Bol officials got security clearance of the channel, the Interior Ministry considered it inappropriate.

The channel, he said, had got a stay order from the high court against the Interior Ministry’s decision, which was later vacated.

The minister said the Information Ministry after getting legal opinion from the Law Ministry wrote a letter to the Interior Ministry for taking steps to release salaries of journalists of Bol channel from its frozen accounts.He said the journalistic organizations had also moved the courts for payment of salaries from the frozen accounts of Exact. He expressed the hope that the Bol journalists would be paid salaries soon through a judicial process.