The Sindh High Court (SHC) has sharply criticized the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) for altering its stance on the blocking of X (formerly Twitter).
During a hearing on Monday, led by SHC Chief Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui, the court expressed dissatisfaction with the PTA’s reversal of the Interior Ministry’s directive to ban the platform. The court questioned whether this shift in position amounted to professional misconduct or misrepresentation.
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“Who gave you these instructions? Name the person,” the chief justice demanded, visibly frustrated by the inconsistency.
Although the deputy attorney general argued that the reversal was an unintentional error caused by case overload, the court maintained its critical view.
The court further hinted at the possibility of contempt proceedings and suggested that the PTA chairman could be summoned for an explanation. PTA’s lawyer was also scrutinized for offering unsolicited information, while the court pointed out that another PTA attorney had previously stated no such instructions had been issued.
The hearing was adjourned until September 24, with the court consolidating PTA’s petition with related cases, leaving its prior orders intact.
PTA Clarifies X Ban Still in Effect
On Saturday, the PTA requested the SHC to set aside or modify its September 12 order, issued during a hearing on a petition challenging the suspension of X in Pakistan.
According to the court’s written order, one of PTA’s lawyers had repeatedly stated that the Federal Ministry of Interior had withdrawn its February 17 notification regarding the platform’s ban.
The court noted that when PTA’s counsel, Ahsan Imam, presented this information, the federal government’s lawyer did not dispute it. Imam repeated his stance several times, while another PTA lawyer, Saad Siddiqui, said he was unaware of the development. The court was surprised by the conflicting instructions for the same issue.
“Since the letter instructing the PTA has been withdrawn, and no other obstacles to restoring X (formerly Twitter) were disclosed, the platform stands restored,” the court order stated.
However, on Saturday, PTA officials submitted affidavits asking the court to “set aside/recall/modify/vary” its September 12 order. They argued that the order was based on an incorrect statement by PTA’s counsel, which resulted from misinformed instructions provided by the authority.
The affidavits explained that the misunderstanding arose because another case, involving the withdrawal of a notification regarding the formation of a steering committee, was also before the same bench. As a result, the PTA mixed up the proceedings.
The PTA clarified that the statement about the Interior Ministry withdrawing its notification on X’s suspension was incorrect. Therefore, it requested the court to revise its September 12 order, citing the confusion as a “bona fide mistake.”
