PHC orders release of Rs400m to newspapers

The Peshawar High Court has directed the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Information Department to immediately release the first instalment of long-pending dues owed to newspapers, amounting to approximately Rs400 million, on a writ petition filed by the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE). The court directed the department to ensure immediate payment of the first instalment and formally inform it once the payment had been completed. It instructed the relevant authorities to expedite arrangements for the release of the second instalment. It ordered the Finance Department to complete the reconciliation process as soon as possible. The CPNE had filed the writ petition in the Peshawar High Court in 2023, seeking the recovery of outstanding dues owed to newspapers.