ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday adjourned hearing of a case regarding suspension of mobile phone services in the country till the last week of June.
A two-member bench of the apex court, comprising Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan, heard the case of cellular companies.
During the course of proceedings, Justice Azmat Saeed remarked that the court also did not wish for telecommunication services to be suspended over small or minor occurrences.
A telecommunication company’s counsel said that cellular services in Pakistan did witnessed routine suspensions over minor matters, including events such as political conventions or a foreign leader’s visit.
He said that the suspension of cellular services ahead of big events was understandable, but implementing this measure over minor issues did not seem logical.
The additional attorney general said that legal advice had already been given to the government. He sought a month’s time to submit the government’s reply about the developments.
Justice Azmat Saeed advised telecommunication providers to exercise patience over the suspension of cellular services as, if some terrorist incident, involving cellphone networks takes place, a case under terrorism charges could be lodged against the head of the company.
Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan remarked that let the law be amended and then the court will take up the matter.
The court directed the government to submit a reply apprising it of developments on the legislation front by the last week of June.
