Amid concerns: Cybercrime bill deferred by NA panel

Move comes in the wake of differences among advisers over final draft

ISLAMABAD:

A parliamentary panel on information technology withheld on Friday its approval for the controversial Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill 2015 after differences among top government advisers grew over the final drafting of the proposed law.

The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information Technology, headed by Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar, took up the concerns of lawmakers and civil society members at its latest meeting. The prime minister’s special assistant Khawaja Zaheer Ahmad also opposed the idea of a restricted public hearing as proposed by Captain Safdar.



After hearing the civil society’s reservations, Safdar disclosed that the bill would not be put forward for final approval. Amid fierce resistance from government advisers, he decided to defer the final approval of the bill in its current form.

“I will hear all concerns and will incorporate precious input. I cannot approve this bill in its current form as I have not noticed lacunas earlier and after hearing [these out] I’m convinced that there is a need for improvement in the bill,” Safdar said.

He suggested that members of the civil society could meet IT ministry officials to discuss the bill clause-by-clause and submit their recommendations. He also requested lawyer Babar Sattar to improve the draft.

At the same time, the chairman of the committee said he was not prepared to extend the deadline despite his earlier statement that he could “wait many days for improvement in the bill.” He refused to open the committee meeting for all particularly for Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ).



“We have already spent three months on this bill and we want to refer it to the speaker. But if he resends it for further deliberation then we again deliberate on this,” Safdar said.

PFUJ president Afzal Butt told The Express Tribune that journalists would stage a protest in case the government chose to ignore its concerns over the controversial legislation.

Meanwhile, State Minister for IT and Telecommunication Anusha Rehman said that the IT ministry had held dozens of meetings with stakeholders on the issue and sent consensus draft bill to the prime minister in February 2014. She said the draft had been on the ministry’s website since and claimed not a single voice was raised from any corner.

Rehman said not all segments of society were represented on the forum, adding that country had schools of thought other than those present on Friday.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 23^rd, 2015.