In a major development, Federal Minister of Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry announced on Wednesday that the PTI-led government is ready to withdraw the controversial Pakistan Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act ordinance 2022 (PECA).
Speaking to a private news channel, the minister said that in this regard, the government has handed over the mandate to Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.
“If the media Joint Action Committee could get its proposal approved, the government would also accept the recommendations,” he said. Earlier Wednesday — following the footsteps of the former Lahore High Court bar president — different journalist associations of Pakistan had also challenged the recently promulgated PECA law in the Islamabad High Court.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Broadcasters Associations, journalist associations, and senior journalists moved the Islamabad High Court against the PECA Ordinance 2022 on Wednesday.
According to the petition. filed through lawyer Munir A Malik, the ordinance aims to stifle criticism and debate on the actions of the public office holders in the garb of action against fake news and disinformation.
