Internet disruptions: LHC reprimands state counsel for lack of knowledge

Lahore: Lahore High Court (LHC) Justice Shakil Ahmad on Friday reprimanded the state counsel for his lack of knowledge and seriousness about recent internet disruptions throughout the country.

The judge took up a petition today filed a day ago by Advocate Muhammad Nadeem after major online platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp have been hit hard since last week with users reporting slowdowns and difficulties in accessing messaging and social media applications.

A day ago, the federal IT minister confirmed that the government was upgrading its “web management system” to counter cyber security threats.

At the beginning of the hearing, the judge ordered the federal government’s counsel to appear before the court by 12pm after consulting the relevant authorities.

When the hearing resumed, state counsel Rana Nauman appeared before the court and requested that the government be given some time to submit a detailed report on the internet outages.

The counsel pleaded in the court that they [the government] would have to ask the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) why the internet is slow and what has happened.

To this, Justice Ahmad observed: “This is a matter of public interest and your seriousness is such that you do not even have adequate information.”

The judge then served his verdict on the matter.