ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Aamer Farooq on Monday termed the report filed by the federal government on the slowdown of internet as unsatisfactory and summoned the member technical of the Ministry of Information Technology in the next hearing.

Justice Farooq was hearing the petition of senior journalist Hamid Mir.

The petitioner’s counsel, Imaan Mazari, argued before the court that the internet was working; however, WhatsApp was not functioning properly as users found it difficult to send or receive audio or video messages.

Justice Farooq observed that the IT sector relied upon the internet and that the ministers were giving contradictory statements which added to the confusion.

The counsel for Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) told the court that two submarine cables were already disconnected and a third one was damaged the other day.

Justice Farooq also noted that the government did not take any responsibility in the petition pending before the Lahore High Court (LHC).

The deputy attorney general told the court that government installations had not caused the internet disruption.

Upon this, Justice Farooq remarked that the business community was complaining for 10 days that their businesses were at stake due to the slowdown.

The PTA chairman informed the court that the web operating system was being upgraded.

The court termed the reply of the PTA unsatisfactory and summoned the member technical of the ministry on Sept 3.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2024