Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Saturday challenged the decision of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against the revocation of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) in the top court.
The petitioner has sought the Supreme Court (SC) to repeal the order of IHC of April 6.
Read more: IHC strikes down ‘unconstitutional’ PECA amendment ordinance
President Dr Arif Alvi promulgated an ordinance on February 20 to amend the PECA 2016, making online defamation a non-bailable, cognisable offence. Under the amended laws, the jail term for defamation was also increased from three years to five years. The PTI government had also incorporated Section 20 in the PECA which granted FIA ‘dominating powers’ regarding cybercrime.
Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) had challenged the Act in the IHC, citing it as a ‘draconian’ law and contradictory to the values of human rights.
The high court had declared the PECA ‘unconstitutional’ and annulled it.
For the latest BOL Live News, Follow on Google News. Read more on Latest Pakistan News on oldsite.bolnews.com
