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MEERA SHAFI vs FEDERATION OF PAKISTAN Ss — 2022 PLD 773 LAHORE-HIGH-COURT-LAHORE

Case information

Citation
2022 PLD 773 LAHORE-HIGH-COURT-LAHORE
Court
Lahore High Court
Year
2022
Reporter
PLD
Parties
MEERA SHAFI vs FEDERATION OF PAKISTAN Ss
Subject matter
Criminal
Provisions referred to
S. 20; S. 28; S. 50; Penal Code (XLV of 1860); Crimes Act (XL of 2016); Validity---Pakistan Penal Code; Penal Code; Crimes Act

Fields are extracted from the reported citation and judgment text. Where a detail is not stated in the record, it is not shown.

Judgment text as reported

MEERA SHAFI VS FEDERATION OF PAKISTAN Ss. 20, 28 & 50---Penal Code (XLV of 1860), Ss. 499 & 500---Constitution of Pakistan, Art. 25---Offences against dignity of a natural person---Defamation---Relation of prevention ofelectronic Crimes Act (XL of 2016) with other laws---Scope---Petitioners' claim was that S. 20 of PECA was discriminatory vis-a-vis Ss. 499 & 500 of P.P.C., so it is liable to be struck down---Validity---Pakistan Penal Code is the general Penal Code for Pakistan---Section 499, P.P.C. defines "defamation"---Section 500, P.P.C. criminalizes defamation---In contrast, S. 20 of PECA relates to offences against dignity of a natural person and defamation is one of the acts that it criminalizes---prevention of electronicCrimes Act is lex specialis which aims to check cybercrimes and provide a legal framework for their investigation, prosecution and trial and for international cooperation to that end---prevention ofelectronic Crimes Act does not override P.P.C.---Section 28 ofPECA rather says that the provisions of the P.P.C. shall apply to the offences provided in the PECA unless they are inconsistent with it---Language of S. 28 is perspicuous but S. 50 presents some difficulty because of the expression "not in derogation of"---prevention of electronic Crimes Act has to be read in tandem with the laws mentioned in S. 50(1) thereof---Sections 499 & 500, P.P.C. apply to ordinary situations while S. 20 of the PECA is invoked where defamation is committed in the cyberspace through the computers---Cybercrimes are a category apart by their very nature as they may extend beyond the local and provincial boundaries and even national frontiers; they require special expertise for investigation which is generally not available with the local police---For all these reasons S.20 of the PECA and Ss. 499 & 500, P.P.C., do not overlap but stand the test of reasonable classification envisaged by Art. 25 of the Constitution.

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