SC orders govt to publicise list of banned outfits

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the federal government to upload the complete list of outlawed organisations on official websites and asked the government to advertise the said list throughout the country.

The court lamented that though efforts are being made to combat terrorism yet the complete list of banned outfits is not available on the official websites.

The three-member bench headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja was hearing the suo motu case regarding errors in legal books and journals etc.

During the course of proceedings, the bench was surprised to know that the lists of banned organisations were not available on the websites of National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) and the Ministry of Interior.

Justice Khawaja said that the government should at least show some seriousness in the war against terrorism, adding that if people will not be aware of the terrorist organisations then how will they fight the menace.

Another member of the bench, Justice Qazi Faez Isa, remarked that nowadays the main issue before the government is that of terrorism, “but where is the law for it?”

The court said the government should address the issue seriously and publicise the law of terrorism and the names of the banned organisations.

Justice Jawwad said a journalist could face up to 3 years of imprisonment if found promoting any terrorist organisations. “At least these journalists should be apprised about the banned outfits.”

Justice Faez observed that the world accuses Pakistan of supporting the terrorists. “After advertising the list of banned organisations the same should be shared with friendly countries, as it may help them identify which banned outfits are still operating in their lands.”

Meanwhile, hearing the case regarding the errors found in law books, the bench questioned the federal law secretary as to how many publishers were punished for publishing law books containing errors. However, the secretary could not come up with a reply.

Justice Jawwad said the issue came to the knowledge of court when a lawyer was reading from a law book which contained errors. He said the credit goes to the judge hearing the case, as he had pointed out the error in the book, adding if the judge had not pointed out the error the government might have suffered a loss worth Rs70 to 80 billion.

Justice Faez said that they wanted that all the laws of the country should be easily accessible.

The court noted that the Punjab government has made substantial progress, adding the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government also seemed to be making efforts in right directions, but the Sindh government has no clue of the requirement of the Rules of Business. The apex court further said the same is the case with Balochistan.

The errors are found in different books on Contract Act 1872, Manual of Intellectual Property Laws, Printing Ordinance 2000, Punjab Consumer Protection Laws, etc.

The hearing of the case was adjourned till January 28.


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