The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has approached the Sindh High Court (SHC) to request a revision or withdrawal of its September 12 ruling, which addressed the suspension of the social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, in Pakistan. The petition challenging the suspension had led to this court decision.
During an earlier hearing, PTA’s counsel informed the court that the Ministry of Interior had rescinded its February 17 notification, which originally ordered the blocking of X in Pakistan. According to a private news outlet, the SHC noted in its written order that this statement, made by PTA’s counsel Ahsan Imam, was not contested by the federal government’s lawyer at the time.
Imam reiterated the withdrawal of the notification several times, but another PTA lawyer, Saad Siddiqui, stated in different petitions that he was unaware of this development. The court expressed its surprise at the conflicting instructions, highlighting that the PTA seemed to be offering different directions on the same issue.
The court ultimately declared, “Since the letter containing instructions to the PTA has been withdrawn, and there is no disclosed obstacle to restoring X (formerly Twitter), the platform stands restored.”
However, PTA officials filed affidavits on Saturday, asking the court to either “set aside, recall, modify, or vary” the September 12 order. They argued that the court’s decision was based on an incorrect statement by their counsel, which had resulted from a misunderstanding within the PTA.
The affidavits explained that the PTA had mistakenly issued instructions due to confusion, which ultimately led to the court’s order. According to a private news outlet, the PTA admitted that another case, regarding the formation of a steering committee, had also been listed before the same bench. This mix-up had led the PTA to confuse the two cases.
The PTA acknowledged that the statement about the Ministry of Interior’s withdrawal of the notification in the X suspension case was inaccurate. The authority has therefore requested the court to reverse or amend the September 12 decision, stating that it had caused undue hardship to the organization.`
