Karachi (TDI): Social media platform X is still restricted, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s (PTA) informed the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday and is not going to open it.
Authority representative also claims that during previous hearing lawyer’s contradictory assertion a “mistake.”
The two-judge bench was not amused by the appeal; they voiced displeasure with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s (PTA) “shifting stance” and threatened to file a contempt case against PTA, the organization’s chairman.
In the most recent hearing, which took place on September 12, two attorneys representing the telecom regulator before a bench to consider a number of petitions challenging the suspension of X’s and mobile and internet services since February.
When the notice to ban the platform was “withdrawn,” one of the attorneys, Ahsan Imam Rizvi, informed the judges that X was no longer blocked.
A related petition was being represented by Saad Siddiqui, who said he was unaware of the withdrawal’s notification.
The bench decided to dismiss a motion to reinstate X based on Mr. Rizvi’s claim.
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The telecom regulator moved a new application after the order and asked the court to change it.
The PTA was alleged to have unintentionally given the lawyer incorrect instructions.
The new application was heard by a two-judge bench on Monday, which was made up of Chief Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui and Justice Jawad Akbar Sarwana.
The PTA hired separate attorneys to represent it in a set of identical petitions concerning social media limitations that the court was hearing, as noted by the bench.
It further said that one of the petitions was dismissed when Mr. Rizvi claimed the ministry had retracted its letter asking for X to be banned.
The bench noted that the second attorney for the PTA claimed he was unaware of the move, while a federal law officer remained silent regarding the withdrawal.
PTA’s attorney responded that the new plea was for the order to be modified, altered, and recalled when the judges inquired whether it was a request for a review of the prior order.
Resentful of the remarks, the bench reminded him that the PTA lawyer had been questioned about his assertion several times during the prior hearing. But the PTA is now saying that “the lawyer’s mind was confused.”
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A hearing on the matter was later set by the court for September 24.
Together with a related plea by lawyer and activist Jibran Nasir to suspend broadband and mobile internet service on the day of the general elections.
The court is concurrently considering separate applications from academics and journalists asking for the restoration of X.
