ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader and provincial minister Abdul Aleem Khan has officially bought Samaa TV.
According to the details, the deal was finalized after the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has allowed the change of management and transfer of shares to Punjab minister Aleem Khan’s company.
According to the sources, the channel was sold at Rs3.56 billion.
During the 165th PEMRA meeting presided over by its chairman, Mohammad Saleem Baig, the meeting unanimously approved the application of Messrs Jaag Broadcasting Systems Limited, which runs Samaa TV, for change of management and transfer of its shares.
Meanwhile, the PEMRA statement didn’t share further details but according to BBC Urdu the shares have been transferred to Park View Limited, a real estate company owned by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader, Aleem Khan, and his daughter.
BBC Urdu claimed that the decision was not ‘unanimous’ as PEMRA member from Balochistan, Farah Azeem Shah, had opposed the idea of shifting the shares without clearance of outstanding dues worth millions of rupees.
Farah Azeem, while speaking to BBC Urdu, said that the regulatory body deviated from its policy in approving the transfer.
“Under the PEMRA laws, the shares and ownership of any channel cannot be transferred without clearing the outstanding dues,” she told BBC.
She said she had not only opposed the decision but also explained her reasons in a dissenting note.
“I suggested the meeting to at least seek bank guarantees that the outstanding dues would be cleared,” Farah said, adding that the Punjab cabinet minister’s company is already under controversy by an Islamabad High Court’s decision against it. Therefore, the authority should seek the law ministry’s input in the case before allowing the move.
Aleem Khan is also a member of the board of governors of Value TV which had now become Channel 24 and this office had now become in conflict with the ownership of a new channel.
Samaa was launched by Zafar Siddiqui in December 2007. Samaa News is currently the fourth largest news media channel in Pakistan. Samaa has 7% of Pakistan’s television viewers tuning in daily.
