Senate body okays controversial cyber-crime bill

islamabad — A Senate panel on Tuesday approved the controversial Prevention of Electronics Crimes Bill 2015.

The bill, which has already been approved by the National Assembly, will now be put up for discussion in the Senate, which must approve it before it can be signed into law by the president, reported

Dawn online. The Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunications met under the chair of Senator Shahi Syed at Parliament House and discussed the features of the bill.

Implementation of the bill will see punishment of up to 14 years imprisonment and Rs50 million fines on electronic crimes.

A special court would be established for hearing the cases falling under the act. With this bill, a person can be trailed under the law even if the crime is committed from outside Pakistan. But investigation of electronics crimes cannot be carried out without court’s permission.

With the permission of the court, the government would be able to seek help of other countries for investigation into cyber crimes.

The IT companies registered with Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) would be dealt with under PTA act. Under this act, imprisonment of up to seven years can be awarded for funding terrorism or terrorist organisations through Internet.

The bill was passed by the NA standing committee on IT in 2015, while it was approved by the Lower House of Parliament on April 13 this year.

It has been widely criticised by the IT industry as well as members of civil society for curbing human rights and giving extraordinary powers to the law enforcement agencies. After its introduction in the NA, the bill was referred to the NA Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication to address concerns raised by the opposition members and stakeholders from the industry.