The Islamabad High Court (IHC) said on Thursday that it didn’t hesitate to say that the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) Amendment Ordinance was a draconian one and in conflict with Article-19 of the constitution.
A judge at the International Criminal Court (IHC) asked why the government was so rushed to make the PECA Ordinance.
At the same time, petitions against the ordinance and those against the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) were heard.
“Now, as a country, we can’t stand when someone says bad things about us or criticizes us,” the judge said.
He observed that because of the ordinance, no one would write anymore because they were afraid they would be punished for it, so no one would ever write again. In the whole world, there is a consensus that “freedom of speech” for citizens can’t be changed, said the CJ.
Justice Minallah told the government not to give the impression that it was misusing its power to stifle dissent. He said that what was happening in the country these days was not normal in democratic societies.
He said that the FIA was only arresting people who were against the government, which was bad.
Also read: PML-N challenges the PECA law in the IHC.
Everyone else was separating defamation laws from criminal laws, but in Pakistan, that wasn’t the case. The CJ said that in Pakistan, defamation and criminal laws were mixed together. MP: “A female member of parliament (MP) from the PTI party filed a complaint with the FIA about her neighbor, who was being harassed because of an environmental issue,” he said.
The hearing was then put off until March 10.
