LAHORE: Justice Sajid Mahmood Sethi of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday directed a petitioner to amend his petition against former prime minister Imran Khan and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Punjab President Dr Yasmin Rashid for their alleged social media campaign against the army and other state institutions.

The judge observed that the matter raised in the petition was general in nature but the petitioner apparently targeted a single political party.

The petitioner’s counsel, Mian Dawood, argued that at present, the PTI leaders were resorting to malicious campaigns against the state institutions.

Justice Sethi observed that the malicious campaign against the state institutions was a grave issue and should be settled once for all. He asked the petitioner to refile the petition after amendment and a larger bench would decide the matter after the Eid holidays.

Seeks amendments to plea against PTI leaders’ campaigns against army, other institutions

A resident of Pakpattan, Akhtar Ali, filed the petition, saying that Imran Khan and other leaders of his party, since the ouster of the PTI government, started a targeted campaign on social media and electronic media against the state institutions, including the army and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The petitioner contends that the PTI leaders have been continuously issuing unfounded, provocative and defamatory statements in the media, public rallies and through other means of communication. He says the PTI`s social media activists accounts have uploaded a video clip of a press conference by Dr Yasmin Rashid wherein she tried to defame the state institutions, especially the ECP and the armed forces. He says the respondent PTI leader alleged that the state institutions were planning to rig the upcoming by-elections on 20 provincial seats in Punjab.

The petitioner submits that the statement of the respondent MPA is in violation of the Constitution, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority Ordinance 2002 and Prevention of Electronic Crime Act 2016. He asks the court to issue directions to the interior ministry, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and police to discharge their legal responsibilities and take action against all those involved in running malicious campaigns against the state institutions.

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2022