The petition whereby the Awami Workers Party (AWP) had challenged the blocking of its website before the elections of 2018 has reportedly been disposed of by the Islamabad High Court.
According to the lawyer representing AWP, in the last hearing on 12th September, the director general of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s Cyber Vigilance Division had appeared before the court. The director general had stated that PTA had ‘unblocked’ AWP’s website, hence the petition against PTA was without any purpose.
According to the lawyer, Haider Imtiaz, the court had wanted to dispose off the petition following the DG’s response, but AWP’s legal representative pointed out that they had also challenged the way the party’s website was blocked.
AWP’s main contention was also that it had not been given a prior notice or an opportunity to defend itself, which was a violation of Article 10A (the right to fair trail and due process).
https://twitter.com/mhaiderimtiaz/status/1180840365202575360?s=20
In response to this, the court agreed to give its findings on whether the way PTA’s website had been blocked was unconstitutional.
The court in its order stated that Article 10-A of the constitution was necessary to be upheld. Moreover, it also declared PTA’s interpretation of Section 37 of Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 to be a ‘flagrant’ violation of fundamental rights provided by the constitution. The DG of PTA’s CVD had claimed during the hearing that it was empowered to block a website without informing or giving a chance for explanation to the one whose website had been blocked.
The court thus deemed the manner in which PTA’s website was blocked as a violation of Article 10-A of the constitution as AWP was not served a notice nor given a chance to defend itself.
Moreover, the court was of the view that PTA should regulate its power under Section 37 of PECA to ensure transparency.
In August, AWP’s lawyer had stated on Twitter that PTA admitted in court that it blocked AWP’s website on the orders of a government agency.