Pakistan

SHC asks Kubra Khan to cooperate with FIA in YouTuber defamation case

Published

1 year ago

Farwa

FIA submits report on scandalous campaign against Kubra.
Says it has provided social media accounts to PTA focal person.
SHC had directed FIA, PTA to defamatory content on social media.

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has asked actress Rabia Iqbal Khan, famously known as Kubra Khan, to cooperate with the inquiry being carried out by the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) in a scandalous and defamatory campaign against her.

During a hearing on Monday, the court also directed the FIA and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to block defamatory and scandalous online content on social media sites against Khan.

On December 31, UK-based YouTuber and retired army officer Adil Farooq Raja levelled serious allegations against some actresses without naming them and by mentioning their initials — S.A, K.K, M.H and H.K.

However, unhappy fans and netizens attached the names of four actresses, forcing them to respond to the allegations on social media.

One of the allegedly accused actresses was Kubra Khan, who told Raja to either provide proof for his claims, retract the statement, publicly apologise or she will take strict action and sue him for defamation.

The actress later petitioned the SHC against “derogatory, defamatory, malicious, incendiary, dangerous and sensationalising allegations” made by the YouTuber against her and three other co-actresses.

During Monday’s hearing, the FIA submitted a report on the campaign against the television actress, stating that the agency had started a probe into the matter.

The agency confirmed that it had forwarded the case to the PTA and provided the alleged YouTube, Instagram and Twitter accounts to the telecommunication authority’s focal person.

“The focal person of FIA cybercrime circle, sent the request immediately for blocking of alleged accounts through PTA and provided the tracking codes after fulfilling all the due and official formalities for blockage of alleged accounts,” said the FIA report.

It also said that the petitioner had filed the complaint on the wrong portal which does not fall in the FIA Cybercrime Wing domain.

The court later adjourned the hearing till January 23.

Petition

Raja made false allegations against four actresses, causing an affront to their modesty, and dignity by claiming they were used by agencies to lure politicians into compromising positions at safe houses, said the petition.

A counsel for the petitioner submitted that Raja, later on, uploaded another video where he clarified the issue and retracted from his earlier version. However, it had irreparably damaged actresses’ reputations, including the petitioner, during the process on account of the contents uploaded on social media sites and cyberspace, added the counsel.

The counsel submitted that the act of the YouTuber was strictly cognisable under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 (PECA).

Latest News

PM Shehbaz will meet with Saudi ministers and speak at the WEF special session today.

Published

16 hours ago

Farwa

On the third day of his visit to the Kingdom, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will speak at the World Economic Forum Special Meeting’s final plenary, which is titled “Rejuvenating Growth.”

Other speakers at the concluding plenary, in addition to the prime minister, are Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Alibrahim, British Secretary of State David Cameron, WEF Geneva President Brørge Brende, and WEF Head of Middle East and North Africa Maroun Kairouz.

Meetings with Saudi ministers of trade, energy, the environment, and agriculture are also scheduled for the third day of the prime minister’s visit. He will probably also meet with his counterpart from Malaysia.

Mohammed bin Salman, the prime minister and crown prince of Saudi Arabia, will be present at the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth, and Energy for Development, which gets underway here today.

Latest News

The nomination of Ishaq Dar as deputy prime minister raises concerns.

Published

17 hours ago

Farwa

A lot of doubts have been raised by Ishaq Dar, the foreign minister, being appointed deputy prime minister.

No reference to the Constitution, regulations, or any other law was mentioned in the Cabinet Division’s notification of the appointment.

What powers Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif used to designate Ishaq Dar as deputy prime minister has come under scrutiny in light of this.

There are questions about the legal foundation for the deputy prime minister’s nomination as it appears from the notification’s phrasing that rules for the position have not yet been established, according to insiders.

Likewise, the announcement is vague about the deputy prime minister’s proposed authority.

Deputy prime minister would be purely symbolic, according to government sources, and would not be authorized to carry out prime ministerial duties. In Pakistan, the deputy prime minister has previously been nominated.

The PPP administration appointed Chaudhry Parvez Elahi as deputy prime minister.

Observe that Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar was appointed deputy prime minister on Sunday with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s consent; the Cabinet Division formally announced the appointment.

Dar holds the position of Pakistan’s fourth deputy prime minister. Previous appointments to the position of deputy prime ministers included Parvez Elahi, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and Begum Nusrat Bhutto.

Latest News

Audio leaks case: FIA, PTA, and PEMRA pleas seeking Justice Sattar’s recusal dismissed

Published

17 hours ago

Farwa

The Islamabad High Court fined each of the three government departments Rs. 500,000 on Monday after dismissing their arguments against a bench trial over audio leaks.

The court may also hold the heads of the aforementioned departments—the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA)—culpable for contempt.

In the audio leak case, four government agencies—the PEMRA, PTA, FIA, and Intelligence Bureau—filed separate petitions with the IHC, pleading for Justice Babar Sattar’s recusal and asking for the case to be heard by the same bench that has previously decided a case of a similar nature.

The petitioners contended that in order to prevent a different ruling, Justice Babar Sattar should recuse himself from the case that was decided in 2021. The petitions of Bushra Bibi, the wife of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan, and Najamul Saqib, the son of former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar, should also be brought before the same bench.

During the current hearing, Justice Sattar also issued a summons to IB Joint Director General Tariq Mehmood, directing him to come before the court for the case’s subsequent hearing.

Following the issue’s discovery in 2023, the judge has been considering the aforementioned petitions.

The government agencies contended in the petitions in the case before Justice Sattar that Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani had already resolved an analogous issue in 2021. Thus, in order to prevent a conflicting ruling and for the sake of justice, they asked the judge to recuse herself from the case.

The departments are requesting that Justice Sattar recuse himself after six IHC judges—among them, himself—complained in writing to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) about intelligence agencies interfering with the court’s decision.

On March 25, the judges called for the calling of a judicial convention to address the issue of purported meddling by intelligence agents in the judicial activities or “intimidation” of judges in a way that jeopardised the judiciary’s independence.