SHC seeks progress report for petitions filed by Mehwish Hayat, Kubra Khan

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday sought a progress report from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the federal government and the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) in petitions filed by actors Mehwish Hayat and Kubra Khan against objectionable and defamatory content on the internet.  

According to Express News, a two-member bench, headed by Justice Naimatullah Phalphoto, heard the petition of Hayat and Khan regarding baseless accusations against them on the internet. After this, the PTA, Federal Government and FIA were asked to do the due diligence and were instructed to remove all content and accounts posting defamatory content against the actors.

Justice Phalphoto inquired whether the content was removed as of yet. The public prosecutor stated that Hayat's statement had been taken, but Khan's statement is yet to be taken. The investigating officer of FIA's Cybercrime wind stated that that the PTA has been asked to remove the content and that it “will be removed soon.”

PTA officials further added that all content that they could remove had been deleted and the relevant authorities have been approached to remove any material posted by accounts running from abroad. An officer stated that the FIA has started issuing complaint numbers and an investigation will begin as soon as all material is removed.

The court adjourned the hearing till February 24. Hayat and Khan approached the SHC against Adil Raja's statement.