Marriyum announces withdrawal of FIA’S petition seeking restoration of PECA Section 20

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Saturday announced the immediate withdrawal of a review petition filed by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in the Supreme Court for restoration of the section 20 of Prevention of Electronic Crime Act (PECA), 2016.

In a series of tweets, Marriyum said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has taken strict notice of the petition filed by the FIA regarding PECA.

“The Prime Minister and I learned a short while ago that FIA has filed a petition in SC against the IHC judgment regarding PECA, 2016 to seek restoration of section 20 of the Act. Please note that this petition stands withdrawn immediately, as it is squarely against the government’s stated policy and principle of standing for and ensuring freedom of expression,” tweeted the information minister.

She regretted that the news of the petition had reached to her and the prime minister a “little late” as they were in Bisham for a public gathering during the day and there were no signals.

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), which was made part of the petition, welcomed PM Shehbaz Sharif’s order for withdrawing the petition.

The journalists’ body said that it has been appealing for an “urgent meeting” of the Joint Action Committee to review the PECA.

“For cordial media-government relations, dialogue is the only solution for ensuring right of expression and press freedom,” said the PFUJ.

Before the directives were issued to withdraw the petition, the PFUJ had expressed concern over the plea.

In a statement, the body had demanded the FIA to withdraw the plea and also appealed to PM Shehbaz to take notice of the petition. PETITION: Earlier in the day, the FIA had approached the Supreme Court for the restoration of the section 20 of the PECA.

In its plea, the FIA had contended before the Supreme Court whether the Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah was “justified or correct” to strike down the section 20 of the PECA.

The agency had asked the apex court to examine whether the Islamabad High Court “has not advertently overstepped its legal parameters earmarked” in Article 199. It wanted the court to determine whether the striking of the section was tantamount to “undue intermeddling with the affairs of the federation”.

The FIA had also asked the Supreme Court to examine whether the IHC’S order was in “direct clash and conflict with Article 184 (3)”.

The FIA had prayed before the apex court to accept its appeal and “suspend” the IHC order till it hears the case.

Last month, the IHC had declared the PECA ordinance “unconstitutional”, including the section of the law. The court had instructed the federal government to investigate the abuse of law and submit a report in 30 days.

President Dr Arif Alvi had promulgated the ordinance in February to amend the PECA law as the government had moved to curb “fake news”. According to journalists and experts, the government’s move was aimed to silence dissent on social media and control the media.