BHC issues notice to govt over plea against PECA tweak

The Balochistan High Court (BHC) accepted a petition on Monday filed by the Balochistan Bar Council and Balochistan Union of Journalists against the controversial Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) Ordinance 2022.

The high court issued notices to the attorney general of Pakistan, asking the federal government to submit a reply within two weeks.

The media professionals are observing a 'black day' today on the call of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ). In a statement announcing black day, the union had termed the law draconian and said it would not accept any law gagging media.

On February 20, President Arif Alvi promulgated the ordinance making online public defamation a cognisable and a non-bailable offense while increasing the jail term for defamation of any person or institution from three years to five years.

Before the ordinance came into effect, Section 20, which pertains to the registration of complaints against individuals by aggrieved parties over defamation, was a bailable and non-criminal offence.

Subsequently, the bar councils and media bodies moved the high courts against the law and in a subsequent order, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) barred the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from arresting anyone under Section 20 of PECA.

After a stream of criticism from the opposition parties, rights organisations and civil society, the MQM-Pakistan - an ally of the ruling PTI - also joined the bandwagon, raising objections over the controversial ordinance.

Federal Minister for Information Technology Syed Aminul Haq, who belongs to the MQM-P, has written a letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan, saying that he did not agree with the amendments as the government did not take the stakeholders into confidence.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2022.