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ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court has instructed Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to lay down guidelines for preventing unwanted websites in next three months.
The Islamabad High Court has instructed PTA to complete the framework of blocking unwated websites in next three months. PTA has blocked more than 800,000 websites in violation of its laws and regulations.
The revelation came after Awami Watan Party filed a petition in Islamabad High Court against PTA for blocking its website. The PTA admitted that “rules [related to blocking of websites] have not been prescribed yet,” the IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah mentioned that under such conditions “blocking of website was indeed in violation of the principles of natural justice”.
In its detailed released issued on Saturday, the IHC observed: “The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is definitely not empowered to pass an order or take action under section 37 of the Act of 2016 in derogation of the mandatory requirements of due process. It is further noted that it is a statutory duty of the PTA to prescribe the rules contemplated by the legislature under sub-section 2 of section 37 of the Act.”
“It is mandatory for the authority to prescribe rules for the purpose described under Section 37(2) of the Act,” the court order added.
