Karachi/Islamabad:
A division bench at Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday sought several arguments about the appropriateness of a petition against the Prevention of Electronic Crimes.
The SHC bench, led by Chief Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui, took the petition against PECA changes. Barrister Ali Tahir, the lawyer of the petitioner, stated the bench that they had challenged section 2R and 26A in Peca.
The lawyer said section 26A criminalized transmission and receipt of information by declaring it “false and false”. He added that sections G and H of the law used the words “false, false and wrong representation” in a very vague way.
He said Section 2R and 26A were contrary to articles 19 and 19A, and the fundamental rights given in the Constitution. He added that Articles 19 and 19a of the Constitution assigned every citizen the right to freedom of expression within reasonable boundaries.
Chief Justice asked the lawyer what was the damage by removing illegal and critical content from social media. Barrister Ali Tahir replied that the authority under PECA would use “judicial powers” to determine what content was critical and had to be removed.
Chief Justice also noted that what was wrong if an institution enforced compliance with the laws of the country.
Barrister Ali Tahir raised the question of restrictions on some social media platforms. He quoted the closure of X in Pakistan and said journalists had disappeared in the past. He said that after the PECA change proposals, their problems would multiply.
Chief Justice noted that the petition for court was not about the disappearance of journalists. He asked the lawyer to satisfy the court that this petition was allowed and postponed the hearing until Monday.
