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LAHORE:
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday issued a stern warning to the Director General of the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), asking him to appear in person on January 15 and warning that he would be held personally liable if further defamatory content targeting judges appeared on social media.
Justice Ali Zia Bajwa issued the directive while hearing a petition filed by advocate Mian Dawood challenging an alleged organized social media campaign aimed at defaming judges of the superior judiciary.
During the proceedings, the judge noted that the court considered the case serious and would pursue it to its logical conclusion.
Given the nature of the campaign, Justice Bajwa remarked that “we will go to the bottom of this matter”, calling the drive against judges “cyber terrorism”.
The court ordered authorities to produce lists of individuals and social media involved in running the campaign and questioned who orchestrated the effort behind the scenes. The judge expressed strong displeasure at the NCCIA’s apparent inaction and questioned whether the agency’s suo motu powers had effectively ceased to exist.
Directly addressing NCCIA Punjab chief Hashmat Kamal, the court questioned his silence and demanded an explanation for the lack of concrete action so far.
“Why is NCCIA sleeping? Such a horrible campaign is being run against judges and you are silent,” the court observed.
When the NCCIA official replied that the case was being monitored periodically, Justice Bajwa questioned why the agency had not fulfilled its legal obligations.
Referring to the relevant statutory provisions, the court reminded the authorities that the law mandates action to remove illegal content and asked whether a single tangible step had been taken in compliance with these requirements.
The court also sought clarification from Advocate General Punjab Amjad Pervez regarding the provincial government’s stand.
