Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) on Tuesday challenged the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) Amendment Bill in Islamabad High Court (IHC) saying the constitution allowed everyone the right to speak freely.
The plea filed by the union said that the media was being shackled in the current government’s tenure. It said that unannounced restrictions had been imposed on journalists.
The petitioner said that there was no emergency situation due to which it became necessary to issue the ordinance of this nature. He stated that freedom of expression is a vital right in any healthy democratic nation and to put curbs on it is against the values given by the Constitution.
The PECA bill had also been challenged in the Lahore High Court, with the applicant stating that the bill had been given the green light in order to silence the voices of media persons.
The claimant said the government aimed to fulfill its “nefarious aims” by enforcing the ordinance. The petition elaborated that issuing a presidential ordinance while the parliament was present was illegal.
On February 20, President Dr. Arif Alvi promulgated two ordinances to amend the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 (PECA) and the Elections Act, 2017.
The ordinance made an amendment to Section 20 of PECA, increasing the jail term for defaming any person or institution from three years to five years.
Outrage had been observed in the opposition’s ranks after the amendment with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif stating that the changes reflected the “real fascist face of the ruling clique”.
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