The Sindh High Court on Wednesday admitted a constitutional petition submitted by nine citizens who seek action against the interior ministry and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for violating the rights of political workers, social media activists and journalists in the government's crackdown against 'anti-army' campaigners online.

The Ministry of Interior and the FIA are the respondents in the case.

The petitioners maintain that criticism of the armed forces does not, by itself, amount to a criminal offence and cannot be subjected to any coercive action by the state.

"Disrespect to or criticism of the armed forces does not fall within any of the exceptions to Article 19. Further, it is well settled that the exceptions to Article 19 are to be narrowly construed," the petitioners have argued.

"In a democratic set-up, it is a citizen’s right to criticise each and every branch of government and such right is essential in order to ensure good governance. It is not for any branch of government to itself determine which criticism is warranted and which is unwarranted," the petitioners say.

They further maintain that the FIA's pursuit of political workers, social media activists and journalists through phone calls, summons, detentions, arrests and the seizure of devices over "vague charges" is without any lawful authority.

The petitioners also say that since most of these actions have been taken without registering a First Information Report (FIR) or securing a warrant, they constitute "a violation of the due process of law guaranteed under Articles 4, 10-A and 13 of the Constitution as well as relevant provisions of the FIA Act and the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) read with the Criminal Procedure Code, 1898.

"These actions then amount to coercive acts to intimidate, harass and threaten not just targeted individuals but citizens at large," the petitioners say.

"The government and the FIA, through both their statements and their actions, have created a chilling effect on freedom of speech and deliberately hindered the public exercise of the rights guaranteed under Article 19 of the Constitution by obstructing the right of citizens to even engage in constructive criticism," the petitioners argue.

The case was fixed for a hearing before Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Sadiq Hussain Bhatti.

The judges have issued notices to the respondents to file a response by June 15.