ISLAMABAD:The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday extended its stay orders against arrests under PECA Ordinance and accepted the pray of attorney general of Pakistan for arguments on March 20, after taking instructions from federation.
The court asked the AGP to clarify that why not it should turn down the section 20 of the PECA. AGP Khalid Jawed informed the court that he would raise the matter before the federal cabinet.
The court, however, dismissed the identical cases of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and remarked that it wouldn’t take any actions on the petitions submitted by the opposition.
Chief Justice Athar Minallah remarked that the opposition could reject the Ordinance in Senate as it had strength in the upper house of the Parliament.
The political parties and their workers were responsible for what was happening on social media, he remarked.
He said that there was only one question before this court that was why not section-20 should be terminated. The ordinance, the court said, was contradictory with the Article 19 of the Constitution.
The judge reiterated that defamation laws were being decriminalized across the world as he gave examples of Britain and Uganda. The attorney general responded that there were many countries where the law was not decriminalized.
Attorney General of Pakistan Khalid Jawed Khan said Section 20 was not unconstitutional.
He, however, added that there was a need to provide safeguards against the misuse of the law. He said he will meet the prime minister as he has a “plan” for changes in the law.
He further said the law wouldn’t apply to political speeches. The chief justice, however, asked him to assure that the law wouldn’t apply to all types of speech.
The AGP said he would take up the issue with the cabinet members. Subsequently, the hearing in the case was adjourned till March 10.