Lahore High Court (LHC) has given “The Last Chance” to the federal government to explain the mechanism it adopted while introducing a ban on social media platform X, former Twitter.

LHC observed that critical content of a social media platform can be blocked, but the presence of such content does not justify a complete ban on a platform.

A bench with three members led by LHC Chief Justice Aalia Neelum on Thursday resumed to hear the petitions filed against the suspension of X, which took place last February.

PTA President Major Gen (Retd) Hafeez Ur Rehman showed up for the bench and submitted a written response to the petitions.

During the hearing, the federal government’s lawyer, Asad Bajwa, said the Ministry of the Interior lacks a system to track individual internet use and has therefore introduced a carpet ban.

Chief Justice Neelum expressed amazement at how the ministry can block X, but does not have a system to track its use. Bajwa informed the bench that the government has set up a committee to investigate the matter. CJ rejected it as a delaying tactic: “This committee is just to mislead the court.”

When the lawyer told the bench that the government has written to the X administration for the removal of inconsiderable content, CJ asked if there is a formal agreement between the government and X. “Why should X answer you if there is no agreement?” She asked.

A member of the bench, Justice Ali Zia Bajwa, asked the PTA chairman if PTA’s official X account was still active. When the PTI chairman answered in the affirmative, the judge noted in a sarcastic way that PTA had banned x but used the platform itself

During the hearing, the PTA chairman said that all X users in Pakistan gained access to X via VPN. He denied using a VPN personally, but admitted that PTA was actually using a VPN, a statement he tried to retreat later.

CJ reprimanded the PTA chief to come to court unprepared and make “a false statement”. “Called the PTA chairman was a waste – he lacks knowledge,” she said.

When the PTA chairman said the authority could recover X, if instructed by the court, Justice Bajwa noted that PTA had apparently been acting wrong and was now looking for justification to revive the social media platform. Justice Bajwa stated that rules allow content blocking, but not a platform -covering ban.