The Lahore High Court has issued a reserved decision on the petition against the shutdown of the Internet across the country, in which all parties have been ordered to submit their responses on the upcoming hearing against the shutdown of the Internet.
The Lahore High Court summoned one representative of the federal government, Ministry of Information and PTA to the next hearing and ordered that the representative of each party should ensure attendance in the courtroom.
The Lahore High Court adjourned further hearing of the case till August 21.
It may be recalled that yesterday the recent shutdown and disruption of internet across the country was challenged in the Lahore High Court.
The federal government, PTA and others were made parties in the petition filed by Nadeem Sarwar.
It was argued in the petition that internet and social media applications have been shut down in the country without notice and reason.
He had taken a stand that the business and even every sphere of life is being affected by this shutdown, while the shutdown of the Internet is also a violation of fundamental rights.
The court was requested to nullify the federal government’s decision to shut down the internet and issue orders to fully and immediately restore the internet in the country.
It should be remembered that on August 15, the Upper House Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology had directed to solve the problem of slow internet and social media apps in the country within 2 weeks.
Later yesterday, freelancing platform Fiver disabled several accounts in Pakistan after receiving complaints from its users about possible internet outages.
It should be noted that yesterday the Pakistan Business Council warned that several multinational companies are planning to move their offices from Pakistan to other countries, while many have already done so.
The warning came amid a report by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce which said that 3,986 Pakistani companies were registered in Dubai between January and June 2024, making Pakistan the second-highest country on the list. 2023 shows a 17% increase compared to 3,395 companies registered during the same period.
Last year, the Dubai Chamber of Commerce registered 8,36 new Pakistani businesses.
