IHC CJ discourages hate speech 'in garb of freedom'

Court gives judicial aides more time to submit reports in social media rules case

ISLAMABAD:

Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah on Thursday discouraged making provocative or hate speeches “under the garb of freedom of speech”.

The IHC CJ, while hearing petitions regarding social media rules and the ban on TikTok, allowed more time to judicial assistants to submit their respective reports, adjourning the hearing till March 7.

“The more a society has access to information, the better it will progress,” Justice Minallah remarked during the proceedings.

Senior journalist Hamid Mir appeared before the court and submitted his report as a judicial assistant.

The IHC CJ inquired whether all the judicial aides had submitted their reports to which Advocate Iman Mazari responded that some of them had sought more time to submit them.

“Judicial assistant Fareeha Aziz has asked for more time to file her report,” she added.

“Three or four things are essential in view of Articles 19 and 19A of the Constitution. Freedom of expression should not be hate speech or provocative speech. Nothing will be left if there is no freedom of expression, so access to information is essential,” Justice Minallah observed.

At an earlier hearing, the IHC had sought a briefing from all amicus curiae on the notified social media rules.

Advocate Usman Warraich had urged the court to also appoint digital experts as amicus curiae so that their opinion could also be taken.

Read IHC seeks briefing on social media rules

The court had noted it had to view only one question -- whether or not social media rules were in contradiction with Article 19 of the Constitution.

The court had remarked that according to some international organisations, this bench was against freedom of expression, asking why the cases should not be transferred to another bench to ensure transparency.

However, the lawyer had opposed the proposal, saying they had full trust in this court.

In November last year, the IHC had appointed representatives of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) as well as digital media experts as amici curiae in the case related to social media rules.

Justice Minallah had asked digital media experts Sadaf Baig, Nighat Dad, Fareeha Aziz, Rafay Baloch and representatives of the PBC and the PFUJ to inform the court whether the social media rules were contradictory to the constitutional provisions or not.

Additional Attorney General Qasim Wadud had informed the court that Prime Minister Imran Khan had formed a committee, headed by federal minister Dr Shireen Mazari, to review the social media rules. The body had held consultative sessions with over 30 stakeholders. It had also held discussions with managements of leading social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter and other international forums in connection with the rules, he had added.