Only nine of 372 Peca cases shifted to NCCIA, Senate panel told

ISLAMABAD, Jul 24 (APP):The Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting was informed on Thursday that only nine of around 372 eligible cases nationwide have so far been transferred to the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency despite amendments to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca), 2025, granting the agency exclusive authority to investigate offences under the law.

Briefing the committee, chaired by Senator Sarmad Ali, NCCIA official said provincial police continued to retain the vast majority of Peca cases despite the amended law requiring investigations to be handed over to the agency once offences under the act were invoked in a first information report (FIR).

According to the agency, a province-wise breakdown showed 19 Peca-related cases registered in Islamabad, 268 in Punjab, 47 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 21 in Sindh, seven in Balochistan, 10 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and none in Gilgit-Baltistan.

However, officials said only nine cases — all transferred by Sindh Police — had so far been formally handed over to the NCCIA for investigation.

The agency maintained that once Peca provisions were included in an FIR, provincial police no longer had the legal authority to investigate the matter and were required to transfer the case to the NCCIA.

Officials said provincial authorities had informed the agency that the remaining transfers were still under process.

Senator Waqar Mehdi questioned why under-trial Peca cases pending before courts had also not been shifted to the NCCIA despite earlier directions issued by the committee.

He said provincial prosecution departments and advocate generals should explain why the pending cases had yet to be transferred.

Responding to the query, the NCCIA official reiterated that police lost investigative jurisdiction immediately after Peca provisions were applied to a case, comparing the arrangement to offences under the Anti-Terrorism Act, which are investigated by the Counter-Terrorism Department rather than ordinary police.

Following the discussion, committee chairman Senator Sarmad Ali directed that fresh instructions be issued to provincial inspectors general of police, advocate generals and other relevant authorities to transfer all pending Peca cases to the NCCIA and explain the reasons for delays in implementing the committee’s earlier directions.

The committee also took up concerns over social media statistics previously shared by the NCCIA after media reports suggested the agency had presented inaccurate figures and later disowned them.

Responding to the criticism, an NCCIA official rejected the allegations, saying the figures cited during an earlier briefing had been sourced from Meta’s publicly available transparency reports and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).

The official said the committee had specifically sought information on Meta’s response rate to requests submitted by Pakistan and that the agency had cited figures showing an 83.64 per cent response rate for Pakistan and 74.78pc for India.

Referring to a newspaper report published on May 15 questioning the statistics, the official said the figures were publicly available and could be independently verified through Meta’s online transparency reports.

“Anyone can simply search for Meta Pakistan 83.64 and access the report,” the official told the committee, adding that the same applied to the figures relating to India.

He said the agency had also provided the relevant online links in its report submitted to the committee.

Responding to questions about social media subscriber data, the official said those statistics fell within the PTA’s domain and had been taken directly from the regulator’s website, arguing it was incorrect to attribute them to the NCCIA.

The official rejected suggestions that the agency had misled the committee or exaggerated the statistics, maintaining that all figures presented were based on publicly available sources.

The committee also reviewed concerns over notices issued by the NCCIA to newspaper columnist Toufiq Butt following a complaint regarding a column published in Nai Baat on June 11, 2024.

An NCCIA official said the complaint had been filed by Pakistan Administrative Services Association (Punjab Chapter) president Aman Babar, who objected to the use of the expression “Bureau-Corrupts” for bureaucrats, arguing that it was defamatory and had harmed the reputation of PAS officers.

The official said no FIR had been registered and no criminal proceedings had been initiated, adding that the agency was merely conducting an inquiry to record the columnist’s version after receiving the complaint.

According to the briefing, notices were issued on June 19 and June 29 after the columnist failed to appear before the agency.

The official said the column had subsequently been removed from the newspaper’s e-paper but remained available on the writer’s personal Facebook account.

He maintained that the agency was obliged to entertain complaints filed by aggrieved parties and seek the respondent’s version before reaching any conclusion.

The explanation prompted a debate among journalists attending the meeting, several of whom questioned whether the NCCIA had jurisdiction over newspaper content, arguing that print publications fell under the Press Council of Pakistan while electronic media was regulated by Pemra.

Some participants warned that entertaining such complaints could create a “backdoor” mechanism to pressure journalists and have a chilling effect on press freedom.

Others argued that once the same content was independently available on social media, it came within the scope of cyber laws, while some maintained that reposting a newspaper column online should not alter its regulatory status.

The NCCIA reiterated that it had only sought the columnist’s response and that no punitive action had been taken.

The Committee also took notice of the alleged misrepresentation of Hazrat Baba Bulleh Shah’s message of peace in the film Buleha, observing that the film distorted the peaceful teachings of the renowned Sufi saint by associating it with violence and guns by the lead role of film. Members questioned the basis on which the Central Board of Film Censors had approved the film. Although the Chairman of the Censor Board informed the Committee that the film had also been cleared by the censor boards of Punjab and Sindh, the Committee rejected this justification. Members further questioned the criteria for appointing members of the Censor Board and urged the Federal Government to develop a transparent and merit-based mechanism for such appointments.

Following detailed deliberations, the Committee recommended that the producers of the Buleha be asked to change its name and remove an objectionable dialogue in which the lead character compared himself with Baba Bulleh Shah failing which the film should be blocked from release including possible removal from YouTube.

The Committee was also briefed on the allotment of flats and plots by the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA) for journalists and media workers. Officials informed the Committee that allotments under the quota for media workers had been completed while issues concerning the journalists’ quota remained unresolved. Expressing dissatisfaction over the prolonged delay, the Committee decided to constitute a monitoring sub-committee comprising Senators Parvez Rashid, Waqar Mehdi and Abdul Shakoor to oversee implementation of its recommendations and facilitate resolution of the issue.

Senator Sarmad Ali directed the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to notify a committee comprising representatives of journalists in one week to review the matter, revisit the existing policy and decide the allotments within one month. The Committee also recommended increasing the quota for journalists and media workers in future housing schemes and suggested introducing a dedicated housing loan scheme or according journalists priority under existing Federal Government housing finance initiatives.

The Press Information Department (PID) also briefed the Committee on the advertisement quota for regional newspapers. Officials informed the Committee that the existing policy reserves 25 percent of government advertisements for regional newspapers. However, members noted complaints regarding non-implementation of the policy, particularly from Sindh and Balochistan. The Acting Chairman directed PID to ensure strict implementation of the 25 percent quota, including language newspapers in recognition of their vital role in disseminating information to the public.

The Committee further discussed the issues faced by Radio Pakistan pensioners. It was informed that 353 commutation cases remained pending and that Radio Pakistan continues to operate through a Federal Government grant-in-aid. Officials also informed the Committee that the Prime Minister had already constituted a committee to resolve outstanding issues relating to Radio Pakistan, PTV and APP. The Acting Chairman directed that the grievances of Radio Pakistan pensioners also be placed before the Prime Minister’s committee and called for an early resolution of the matter. informed the Committee that only Sindh had transferred nine cases so far been while the remaining cases in other provinces were under process. After detailed deliberations, Senator Sarmad Ali directed that letters be sent to all relevant provincial authorities, urging them to expedite the transfer of pending cases along with the recommendations and report of the Senate Sub-Committee on Information and Broadcasting for implementation.

The Committee also took notice of the alleged misrepresentation of Hazrat Baba Bulleh Shah’s message of peace in the film Buleha, observing that the film distorted the peaceful teachings of the renowned Sufi saint by associating it with violence and guns by the lead role of film.

Members questioned the basis on which the Central Board of Film Censors had approved the film. Although the Chairman of the Censor Board informed the Committee that the film had also been cleared by the censor boards of Punjab and Sindh, the Committee rejected this justification. Members further questioned the criteria for appointing members of the Censor Board and urged the Federal Government to develop a transparent and merit-based mechanism for such appointments.

Following detailed deliberations, the Committee recommended that the producers of the Buleha be asked to change its name and remove an objectionable dialogue in which the lead character compared himself with Baba Bulleh Shah failing which the film should be blocked from release including possible removal from YouTube.

The Committee was also briefed on the allotment of flats and plots by the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA) for journalists and media workers.

Officials informed the Committee that allotments under the quota for media workers had been completed while issues concerning the journalists’ quota remained unresolved.

Expressing dissatisfaction over the prolonged delay, the Committee decided to constitute a monitoring sub-committee to oversee implementation of its recommendations and facilitate resolution of the issue.

Senator Sarmad Ali directed the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to notify the committee comprising representatives of journalists in one week to review the matter and revisit the existing policy within one month.

The Committee also recommended increasing the quota for journalists and media workers in future housing schemes and suggested introducing a dedicated housing loan scheme or according journalists priority under existing Federal Government housing finance initiatives.

On a query raised by Senate Jan Buledi, Press Information Department (PID) also briefed the Committee on the advertisement quota for regional newspapers.

Officials informed the Committee that the existing policy reserves 25 percent of government advertisements for regional newspapers.

However, members noted complaints regarding non-implementation of the policy, particularly from Sindh and Balochistan.

The Acting Chairman directed PID to ensure strict implementation of the 25 percent quota, including language newspapers in recognition of their vital role in disseminating information to the public.

The Committee further discussed the issues faced by Radio Pakistan pensioners. It was informed that 353 commutation cases remained pending and that Radio Pakistan continues to operate through a Federal Government grant-in-aid.

Officials also informed the Committee that the Prime Minister had already constituted a committee to resolve outstanding issues relating to Radio Pakistan, PTV and APP.

The Acting Chairman directed that the grievances of Radio Pakistan pensioners also be placed before the Prime Minister’s committee and called for an early resolution of the matter.

The meeting was attended by Senators Abdul Shakoor Khan, Syed Waqar Mehdi, Pervaiz Rashid and Jan Mohammad, Secretary Information Ashfaq Ahmed Khalil and officials of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the NCCIA and the Central Board of Film Censors.