ISLAMABAD: The Opposition in the Natio­nal Assembly today [Dec 4] strongly critici­s­­ed what was described as power assumed by the Federal Government under the DPR [De­­­f­­ence of Pakistan Rules] to intercept teleph­onic conversation of any citizen. … The matter was raised by Jamaat-i-Islami’s Prof Gha­­foor Ahmad through an adjournment motion, claiming that the measure was in vio­lation of constitutional provisions, which guaranteed dignity of man and privacy of homes.

The motion was ruled out of order following an objection by Minister of State for Law and Parliamentary Affairs, Malik Moham­mad Akhtar, on the ground that power to tap telephones was already there with the Director-General of Telephones and Tele­graphs and nothing new now had been done. What the Government had now done was to amend the rules to bring them in conformity with constitutional provisions, so that only those persons authorised by the Federal Government would be able to listen [to] any conversation on any telephonic system. …

Tehrik-i-Istiqlal’s Ahmad Raza Kasuri brought out something, which, he said, was a tapping device he had found in his own telephone. He walked to the Speaker and kept it on his table. — Islamabad Bureau

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2024