24/07/2019
2012 C L C 1300
5. Mr. Muhammad Azhar Siddique, Advocate, petitioner in Writ Petition No.11559 of 2010 and Chairman of
petitionercompany in Writ Petition No.16015 of 2010, in furtherance of the arguments advanced by the
learned counsel for the petitioner in Writ Petition No.10392 of 2010, submits that the material available on
the website is aimed at to obliterate the religious harmony amongst the followers of different religions; that
publication of such material is punishable under section 295C of P.P.C. and despite a direction issued by the
ExOfficio Justice of Peace on the application of the petitioner F.I.R. has not been registered against the
concerned persons: that respect for everyone's religion is a prerequisite for the worldly peace but the material
available on the website in question runs contrary to the said foremost need of the hour; that the publication
of such material is also violative of the United Nation's resolution wherein all the member States are required
to take joint and separate action in cooperation with the United Nations for the promotion and encouragement
of respect for human rights and fundamental freedom for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or
religion and that the timely blockage of said website is not the solution of the problem.
6. Learned Deputy Attorney General for Pakistan submits that to curb such activities an Inter Ministerial
Committee consisting of representatives of different ministries was constituted in the year 2006 and the said
committee is empowered to redress the grievance of any individual or a group in the event of a complaint is
filed before it but in the present case no such complaint was filed by the petitioners before the said
committee; that pursuant to the information of the objectionable material the same has already been blocked
and the Government of Pakistan is in constant touch with the administration of the website in question on this
issue; that when the petitioners have alternate remedy of filing a complaint before the afore mentioned
committee the instant petition is not maintainable; that government is taking all possible measures to avoid
such like material to be viewed in Pakistan; that the government has agitated the said matter at international
level viz. as a result of the efforts of Pakistan a resolution under the subject "Inter Faith and Inter Cultural
Dialogue has been adopted and that the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in his statement at the NAM
Ministerial Meeting on Inter Faith Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace and Development highlighted the said
issue by stating that in a recent times we have witnessed instances of deliberate and provocative insults to the
religion of Islam and its sacred personalities and symbols and that Ministry of Information Technology and
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority in their campaign against blasphemy have blocked thousands of
websites/URLs.
7. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, while adopting the
arguments advanced by the learned Deputy Attorney General for Pakistan, state that a Crises Cell has been
established in the Services Division ICT Directorate and Enforcement Division and the same is working
round the clock to cope with such situation, thus the present petitions in presence of alternate remedy are not
maintainable; that United Nation's and OIC are not necessary parties to these petitions therefore, they have
wrongly been arrayed as respondents in Writ Petitions Nos.11559 and 16615 of 2010; that the Writ Petitions
seems to be a device fee earning reputation amongst the masses as out of three two have been filed by law
firms whereas the third one has been filed by the Chairman of Muhammad Ahmad Public Interest Litigation
Company; that there is nobody denying the pride, worth, respect and status of the Holy Prophet Muhammad
(P.B.U.H.) but at the same time no one should be allowed to use the said issue for his own eulogize himself
inasmuch as in Writ Petitions Nos.11559 and 16615 of 2010 much has been written while highlighting
different issues agitated by Muhammad and Ahmed, a public interest litigation company and less has been
discussed about the issue involved in these petitions; than, material in question has not only been published
on the website in question rather the same has also been published by many other websites, therefore, despite
hectic efforts it is not possible to completely block such websites; that in case of complete blockage of certain
websites the users in the country would be deprived of the benefits being availed by them and that it is need
of the hour that in addition to the efforts of government functionaries creation of awareness amongst the
publicatlarge is most pivotal.
8. Learned Assistant AdvocateGeneral has toed the line of Deputy Attorney General for Pakistan with only
additional submission that since the offence has not been committed in Pakistan, therefore criminal case
cannot be registered as prayed for.
9. In view of the sensitivity of the issue. I have given my anxious consideration to the arguments put forth by
the learned counsel for the parties and have also gone through the documents appended with these petitions.
The issue involved in these petitions revolve around the publication of defamatory material regarding the
personality of Holy Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) Who is not only being adored by the Muslims but also
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