The Lahore High Court on Friday summoned Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar over the sensitive matter of publication of the Holy Quran without approval of Quran Academy and presence of unverified religious content on social media.
Justice Shujaat Ali Khan of the LHC passed the order on a petition moved by a citizen namely Hassan Muawiya.
The petitioner’s counsel stated in court that the government authorities concerned did not bother to comply with the court orders as the unverified religious content was still available on social media and many websites.
He asked the court to order the Punjab government and relevant authorities to immediately remove blasphemous, unverified and controversial content from social media and websites.
Cybercrime Additional Director Babar Bakht Qureshi, DPO Jhang Bilal Ahmed and other officials also appeared before the court.
The judge asked about the appearance of the director general of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in the case and the court was informed that he could not turn up. In response to this, Justice Khan expressed serious concerns, observing that it was a very sensitive and important matter.
The judge questioned the DPO why he should not be punished in the matter and why the court order was not implemented, while observing that the matter was important for everyone.
The judge further remarked that the chief minister of Punjab should be summoned to get his view point.
“If he is not interested in doing anything in this regard then the petition could be withdrawn,” he said.
Justice Shujaat Ali Khan further directed that Punjab Chief Minister Buzdar should appear in person to explain his position and put off further hearing till November 8.
On March 5, 2019, wherein the LHC had ordered the FIA to remove unverified religious content from social media and many other websites but the controversial and unverified content was not removed.
