Sindh High Court overturns PEMRA ban on drama serial Jalan

The Sindh High Court has overruled PEMRA's decision banning drama Jalan and has permitted ARY Digital to premiere its new episode on Wednesday.

On September 10, PEMRA banned the popular drama serial Jalan, airing on ARY Digital, due to its "indecent and irreligious" storyline.

The statement it issued read that PEMRA had given repeated warnings to ARY Digital to revise the content of Jalan, however, the channel refused to comply with PEMRA’s warnings and it has now been banned under Section 27 of the PEMRA Ordinance.

The management of ARY Digital told SAMAA Digital they had filed a petition earlier in the Sindh High Court and have now received the approval for the drama to be aired.

Film critic Omair Alvi told SAMAA Digital that the order to ban drama Jalan has been suspended by the Sindh High Court and drama's 14th episode will be aired as per schedule.

Alvi remarked that the decision to air the drama was taken because PEMRA's job is to regulate content, not ban it.

The cast of Jalan includes actress Manal Khan, Areeba Habib and Emmad Irfani among others.

Jalan is about an illicit affair between a man and his sister-in-law. Outrage regarding the drama’s plot has been brewing on social media ever since the drama began airing.

Earlier, PEMRA said that it was reviewing complaints filed against the drama. The channel was directed to review its content.

PEMRA added that it had been getting complaints from viewers on a daily basis through the Pakistan Citizens Portal, PEMRA social media accounts, and PEMRA call centres.

On September 4, PEMRA banned the repeat telecast of ARY Digital and Hum TV drama serials Ishqiya and Pyar Ke Sadqay citing that the content of the dramas is against the ‘morals’ of society.

The notification issued by the regulatory body on Friday stated that the ban has been imposed under Section 27 of PEMRA Ordinance.

Section 27 (prohibition of broadcast media or distribution service operation) states that broadcasting or re-broadcasting or distributing of any programme is prohibited if PEMRA is of the opinion that the programme is pornographic, obscene, vulgar or is offensive to the commonly accepted standards of decency.