IHC bars arrests under Section 20 of PECA

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday prohibited the government from arresting people under Section 20 of Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act Ordinance 2022, Geo News reported. 

It also asked to decriminalise defamation, while underlining that imprisonment or arrest even in criminalized defamation is ‘never an appropriate penalty'.

President Dr Arif Alvi promulgated an ordinance on February 20 to amend the PECA 2016, making online defamation a non-bailable, cognisable offence and giving more powers to the FIA. Under the amended laws, the jail term for defamation was also increased from three years to five years. However, the recent arrest of journalist Mohsin Baig at the hands of the FIA drove the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ, Rana Azim group), to reach out to the IHC against the PECA Ordinance 2022. Moved by the PFUJ's petition, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah issued a restraining order to the government against the arrest of people under the said ordinance.

During Wednesday's hearing, the counsel representing PFUJ, Adil Aziz Qazi, argued that the government deliberately postponed a scheduled session of the National Assembly on February 18 to introduce this ordinance. “What were the circumstances under which the government issued the ordinance in haste?” questioned the lawyer.

At this, the chief justice remarked that the FIA had already submitted SOPs relating to raids and arrests. The court ordered that nobody should be arrested on any complaint registered under Section 20. “[The] interior ministry secretary and FIA director-general will be responsible if the SOPs are not followed,” warned Chief Justice Minallah.

Justice Minallah noted that the States parties have been urged to decriminalize defamation. It has been explicitly stated that, in any case, imprisonment or arrest even in criminalized defamation is ‘never an appropriate penalty'. Chief Justice Minallah remarked that even countries such as Zimbabwe and Uganda were also removing defamation from their criminal law. “There should be no defamation law for public representatives," remarked Justice Minallah.

Meanwhile, the court sought assistance from the attorney general for Pakistan to justify introducing amendments through an ordinance promulgated under Article 89 of the Constitution, which, prima facie, appears to have the effect of making an already criminalized defamation more oppressive and draconian. Later, the case was deferred till February 24.

In a related development, PFUJ Secretary General Nasir Zaidi, alongside members of the Journalist Defence Committee, Iman Mazari and Usman Warraich, challenged the Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act Ordinance 2022. Taking the plea that the ordinance is a move towards suppressing the freedom of expression and must be declared null and void, the PFUJ said the new ordinance is violative of the freedom of expression. The ordinance was promulgated just two days after the Senate session, while the NA session scheduled for Feb 18 was cancelled at the last moment, thereby, throwing the parliamentary system on the backburner. Describing the PECA (Amend) Ord as contrary to the Constitution and laws, they pleaded to annul it.

In their reaction, PMLN Secretary Information, during a press talk, said the PMLN had decided to challenge the PECA ordinance. Terming it a "draconian black law", Aurangzeb said the law should first be applied to Prime Minister Imran Khan for his "false statements accusing opposition leaders of corruption." The prime minister, she said, should also be asked about the abuses he hurled at his political rivals.

Aurangzeb claimed that through the ordinance, the premier was attempting to "silence" the government's critics. In a related development, PPPP's Central Information Secretary, MNA Shazia Atta Marri, termed PECA as a marvel of modern history in which there is no definition of crime. Talking to the reporters, Marri dubbed the black law as unconstitutional and against freedom of expression. Marri said that this is a war to defend the Constitution, law, and democracy and we will fight this with full force.

Also, the PTI-led government’s key ally MQM-P demanded of Prime Minister Imran Khan to withdraw the PECA ordinance. In a letter to PM, MQM-P's senior leader and Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Syed Aminul Haq said the media community across the board was deeply concerned and restless about the latest amendments to the PECA ordinance. “The announcement of the amendments has drawn widespread condemnation and ire of media bodies and the journalistic community as a whole,” he wrote. He said the party will not support the laws against fundamental rights at any cost. Urging the prime minister to review or withdraw the ordinance at the earliest, Haq said that it was only through dialogue and deliberation that media practitioners and the government can establish procedures to curtail the fake news.

Conveying the media bodies' concerns, he wrote that the amendments were drafted without consultation with the relevant stakeholders. “It is through the media that a government is able to project its image to the public. By pushing forward with these amendments without consulting the relevant stakeholders, in this case, media practitioners, the government will stoke anger and resentment within the journalistic community,” he wrote. -News Desk