LAHORE: The Lahore High Court accepted a petition challenging Cyber Crime Bill 2016 for hearing and sought reply from the government on September 26.
LHC Justice Mazhar Ali Akbar Naqvi heard the admission plea on Friday (today) during which counsel of the petitioner, Ishtiaq Chaudhry maintained that the government attempted to curb people’s right to express freely and agencies have been given the authority to take action against any piece of content posted on social media which was not acceptable.
He observed that different law enforcement agencies now reserve the right to pursue action against any citizen of the state who expresses opinions on social media that they deem inappropriate without any beforehand notification.
The counsel of the petitioner pleaded that the law under discussion contradicted with the Constitution of Pakistan. The petitioner urged the high court to nullify the newly enacted bill over Internet usage.
Justice Naqvi admitted the petition and issued notices to Attorney General, Advocate General and the Ministry of Law, summoning replies from the litigants on September 26.
Cyber Crime Bill was approved by the National Assembly on August 12 and the law got approval from the Senate over a month ago.
The bill witnessed unanimous approval from the senators but opposition members in the National Assembly voiced their reservations which could not be entertained against the majority.
Cyber Crime Act 2016 allows law enforcement agencies to take action against any Pakistani who tries to hack personal or property related information about other citizens among other clauses that hold people with fake identities as violators.
