ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday reserved judgment on a petition filed against ban on Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) — a popular online game.

IHC Justice Amir Farooq had earlier referred the matter to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).

However, the lawyer of the petitioner company that has rights to the game in Pakistan told the court that PTA did not issue any notice to the company, nor did it issue a notification regarding the suspension.

He said that in pursuant to the court’s order he appeared in the hearing held on July 9 over suspension of multiplayer game.

The PTA’s counsel maintained that according to the letter by the Lahore police, the game has led to depression and suicide. An email was sent to this company as well when PTA initiated the inquiry, he said.

During the hearing Justice Farooq observed that prima facie the basis of the suspension is incidents of suicide. The PTA has to explain how the game is leading to suicides, and the court has to see if the suspension orders followed legal procedure.

The PTA’s counsel pointed out that the game is not only violent but it also contains obscene material.

However, he did not show any complaint from any citizen to substantiate this claim.

The court noted that on this pretext, PTA can block any game at any point of time even without affording them proper opportunity of defence.

Subsequently, the court reserved the decision which is likely to be announced after a couple of days.

On July 1, the PTA suspended PUBG after “receiving complaints from different segments of society”.

“The PTA has received numerous complaints against PUBG wherein it is stated that the game is addictive, wastage of time and poses serious negative impact on physical and psychological health of the children,” a statement by the authority said.

It added that cases of suicide attributed to PUBG game have also been reported in media.

“The Lahore High Court has also directed PTA to look into the issue and decide the matter after hearing the complainants. In this regard, a hearing is being conducted on July 9.”

PTA has also decided to solicit views of the public with reference to the said online game. “In this regard the public is encouraged to provide feedback.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2020