The Lahore High Court (LHC) dismissed a petition filed by Meesha Shafi on Thursday. Her petition challenged the constitutionality of Section 20 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) and the retraction of the FIR by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) under the cybercrime law.
The petitioner said Section 20 was unconstitutional as it gagged free speech and overlapped with Section 499 and 500 of the Pakistan penal Code. Meanwhile, regarding the FIR by the FIA, the Gal Sun singer stated the case was registered in violation of Section 155 of CrPC and Rule (7) 5 of Prevention of Electronic Crimes Investigation Rules 2018. It is also termed the FIR mala fide.
However, the LHC states that Section 20 was not unconstitutional, also referring to Article 14. The ruling stated;
“It is rather in conformity with Article 14 of the Constitution and promotes the right to dignity enshrined therein, … (and) Section 20 does not violate Article 4 and 25.”
According to the top court ruling;
“The petitioners contend that Rule 7(5) of the Investigation Rules has not been followed while Respondent No.5 argues otherwise and both of them have produced case-law regarding the effect of its non-compliance.”
So basically, the LHC stated that it cannot do anything as;
“Even if it is assumed that the Petitioners’ stance is correct, they cannot get any benefit because there is nothing on the record which may suggest that they have been prejudiced.”
The issue largely stems from the lack of evidence that the FIA officials engaged in malpractice.
“There is also no evidence that the FIA authorities were dishonest or had malice against them. In the circumstances, any irregularity or defect in investigation stands cured under section 537 CrPC.”
As for the FIR being mala fide, the top court said it requires factual inquiry to establish that. Again, this is something the Court cannot do within its constitutional jurisdiction.
“The Petitioners would, however, be at liberty to raise this issue before the trial court,” it added.
What do you think of this latest development in the long legal battle between Meesha Shafi and fellow singer Ali Zafar? Let us know in the
