CJ IHC Athar Minallah discourages making provocative or hate speeches under the garb of freedom of speech

ISLAMABAD, Feb 03 (SABAH): Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah on Thursday discouraged making provocative or hate speeches under the garb of freedom of speech.

“The more a society has access to information, the better it will progress,” the IHC chief justice remarked.

The chief justice, while hearing petitions regarding social media rules and ban on TikTok, allowed more time to judicial assistants to submit their respective reports, adjourning the hearing till March 7. Senior journalist Hamid Mir appeared before the court and submitted his report as a judicial assistant.

Justice Athar Minallah inquired whether all the judicial aides had submitted their reports to which Advocate Iman Mazari responded that some judicial aides had asked for more time to submit their accounts. Judicial assistant Fareeha Aziz had also asked for time to file her report.

“Three or four things are essential in view of Articles 19 and 19A of the Constitution. Freedom of expression should not be hate speech or provocative speech. Nothing will be left if there is no freedom of expression, so access to information is essential,” Justice Minallah stated.

At an earlier hearing, the IHC had sought a briefing from all amicus curiae regarding notified social media rules.

Advocate Usman Warraich maintained that this court had also appointed digital experts as amicus curiae so that their opinion could also be taken.

The court said it had to view only one question, whether social media rules were in contradiction with Article 19 of the Constitution or not.

The court remarked that according to some international organisations, this bench was against the freedom of expression, asking why should the cases not be transferred to another bench to ensure transparency. However, the lawyer opposed the proposal, saying they had full trust in this court.