Islamabad:
The Senateurial Committee on Information and the broadcasting was informed on Wednesday that 372 cases had been illegally registered under the Electronic Crimes Prevention Act (PECA) in the provinces, despite the recent changes that prohibited provincial authorities to file such cases.
The committee, which met the Senator Ali Zafar here to the president, has discussed several questions, including violence against journalists, and received briefings from officials from the Ministry of Information and the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA).
The officials informed the committee according to which after the changes, only the NCCIA could record cases under PECA. However, they added 373 cases have always been registered at the provincial level in violation of the law.
The Committee was informed that a total of 1,214 cases had been registered nationally under PECA, 10 of which involved journalists. It was informed that no arrest was made in the 19 cases deposited in Islamabad, the officials added.
The members of the committee noted that the cases by the provinces were “erroneous and illegal”. The president pointed out: “All these cases are illegal – what are we doing now with them?” The Committee subsequently formed a sub-comity to examine the issue of illegal cases registrations.
The meeting also examined financial fraud reports against parliamentarians. It was revealed that nine members of the National Assembly had been deceived by false calls and WhatsApp messages using the name of the Senator of the Irfan Siddiqui Party.
The senator said he had filed four complaints, but no appeal had been provided. The NCCIA indicated that 1.3 million rupees had been recovered, four arrests made and efforts were underway to catch the main suspect. He added that 10 million rupees had been recovered in cases of WhatsApp.
The Senator of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Waqar Mehdi, has raised concerns concerning the derogatory remarks of an anchure of state television against the Sindhi people on social networks. The members recommended that a case be registered against the anchor under PECA.
The NCCIA also reported 611 fraud and 320 cases of harassment nationwide, while warning that the Sims obtained illegally were used for terrorism. Senator Perviz Rasheed complained about threats after a Senate speech.
Journalist Tayyab Baloch was abused by supporters of a recently also published political party at the Committee meeting. The journalist was invited to submit his requests in writing.
