Gayle is on top of the list with 14,562 runs while Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik has made 13,159 runs.
Pollard’s blitz earns Karachi Kings victory against Peshawar Zalmi
KARACHI: Sindh High Court (SHC) Chief Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi chastised the authorities for occasional internet and social media disruptions in the country.
“When will you restore the internet?” the chief judge asked the lawyer for the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) during a hearing on a petition filed by rights activist Advocate Jibran Nasir against the suspension of internet and social media services.
The top judge’s comments come as netizens have been experiencing sporadic disruptions in internet services as well as difficulties accessing social media platforms for the past few weeks, including a complete internet suspension on February 8 election day, despite the SHC’s stay order directing authorities to ensure uninterrupted internet access.
Gayle is on top of the list with 14,562 runs while Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik has made 13,159 runs.
Pollard’s blitz earns Karachi Kings victory against Peshawar Zalmi
The renowned social media network X, formerly Twitter, had been down for days with no official explanation provided by the PTA.
Internet shutdowns violate constitutionally protected rights such as freedom of information (Article 19-A), freedom of speech (Article 19), and freedom of association (Article 17). The Islamabad High Court ruled in February 2018 that internet shutdowns violate fundamental human rights and the constitution.
During today’s session, the SHC chief justice noted that people were not even allowed to run in the general elections.
“Don’t conduct elections in the first place if you want to suspend the internet services,” he said.
To this, the PTA informed the court that the regulating body is subordinate to the instructions issued by the Ministry of Interior and that the internet services were suspended, on poll day, in response to intelligence agencies’ reports.
When asked about what specific threats were communicated to the PTA, the regulatory body’s lawyer underscored that the authorities do not brief the body on the details in this regard.
Meanwhile, the federal government maintained that the internet services were suspended in response to the requests by the provincial governments.
“Internet services were suspended due to national security [threats],” the lawyer said.
“Did the Sindh government ask you to suspend the internet?” questioned Justice Abbasi.
To this, the counsel for the Sindh government denied filing any such request and asked the court for more time to submit their response on the matter.
“Why are you making a mockery of yourself on a global level? It seems that all institutions including the judiciary have been rendered worthless,” the chief justice remarked.
The court, while directing the federal and government to submit its response, then adjourned the hearing till March 5.
