On July 15, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) directed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Secretary of Information to appear before the court with payment cheques for outstanding advertisement dues owed to various newspapers. The order was issued by Justice Ijaz Khan during the hearing of a contempt petition filed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter of the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE).

The legal action by CPNE, represented by advocates Shahid Naseem Chamkani and Ahsan Masood, follows the non-fulfilment of a previous court order dated May 22, 2024, mandating the clearance of approximately Rs 180 crore in outstanding payments for government advertisements published across the province. Despite the provincial administration acknowledging these dues during the initial writ petition and requesting additional time to settle the payments, the dues remained unsettled, prompting the current legal proceedings.

On the same day, the Khyber Union of Journalists (KhUJ) and the Peshawar Press Club (PPC) urged that government advertisement dues be released to media organisations only after they clear salary arrears and other financial obligations owed to journalists. In a joint statement, KhUJ President Kashifuddin Syed and PPC President M. Riaz called on the Chief Justice of the PHC  to ensure compliance with this condition.