Cyber crime bill: FIA may be excluded from investigation process

The government also agrees not to give blanket immunity to intelligence agencies for surveillance


Azam Khan February 25, 2015
PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar said that there should be ‘minimum exceptions and exclusions’ for the intelligence agencies and a procedure should also be defined for intelligence surveillance. DESIGN: ESSA MALIK

ISLAMABAD: As a parliamentary panel gears up to review proposed legislation on cyber crimes on Thursday, the government on Wednesday agreed to exclude the Federal Intelligence Agency (FIA) from the process of investigation of cyber crimes and the mechanism of preventing electronic crimes.

With deliberations due to begin on the cyber crime bill tabled by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Khawaja Karim, the government has consented to stop short of giving blanket immunity to intelligence agencies for surveillance and to introduce certain checks on powers.

The development comes on the back of recommendations made by the information technology ministry after receiving suggestions from parliamentarians. A specific case of a journalist was also discussed who faced harassment by FIA officials in the name of cyber crime for his news story.

While citing the lack of professional skills as one of the main reasons behind the exclusion, official sources say that FIA is not properly trained to handle these crimes and there are chances that the legislation may be misused. Further, judges would be also be trained to deal with cyber crime cases in regular courts.

During a meeting at the Pakistan Institute for Parliamentarians Services (PIPS) on Wednesday, PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar said that there should be ‘minimum exceptions and exclusions’ for the intelligence agencies and a procedure should also be defined for intelligence surveillance. The PPP senator further said that currently there is no law which could empower regulators to take action against any specific domain.

Refereeing to Edward Snowden’s revelations regarding US’s surveillance program, Babar said “cyber warfare is a big threat to Pakistan’s security.”

IT ministry member legal Amina Sohail told The Express Tribune that it remains to be seen which agency does the government tasks with investigating cyber crimes, whether an independent agency or establish a separate cell in the FIA. She added that the ministry’s focus was on prevention of electronic crimes, while cyber security issue should be dealt separately and that the legislation under consideration would focus on special areas and laws which are not currently included in PPC and CrPC.

Pakistan to purchase ‘.pk’ domain

The government has unveiled plans to purchase the ‘.pk’ domain, which it currently does not own despite the fact that a number of government websites are registered on it, the official.

The domain is currently owned by an individual who lives in the US. However, the government has not revealed how much would the domain cost or whether it has budgeted for this expenditure.

Karim irked by bill delay

Senator Karim, who had moved the bill nearly a year ago, has alleged that the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) was not in favor of this legislation mainly because it was moved by a PPP leader.

Offering the ownership of his bill, Senator Karim lamented delays by the IT ministry under different pretexts. “The ministry is just killing time,” he complained.

While accepting that there are some contradictions and mistakes in his proposed bill, the Senator said that the relevant minister or senior government officials had failed to appear before the panel to discuss the bill which demonstrates the government’s interest in the bill.

Pointing out the legal lacunas in the legislation, Additional Director Legislation at PIPS Muhammad Aslam Wasim said that section 7 of the proposed bill says that a person found guilty in cyber terrorism could face up to 14 years imprisonment and a penalty up to Rs15 million, while the section 34 suggests that this crime is compoundable and non-cognisable.

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