Pakistan will never be able to escape its economic crisis without judicial reform, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said Wednesday.
The minister on Monday responded to a Sindh High Court‘s (SHC) ruling ordering the video-sharing app TikTok to be suspended in Pakistan until July 8, nearly three months after the country lifted the ban.
Chaudhry warned of consequences for Pakistan if it failed to implement judicial reforms.
“When I read the judgment yesterday concerning Tik Tok’s taking down and NBP’s withdrawal, I am bewildered and I wonder what our court is doing?” The information minister requested.
Chaudhry noted that Pakistan had already suffered billions in losses due to “judicial activities”.
This is not the first time the minister has criticized court rulings, especially on digital apps in Pakistan.
In February the minister said that judicial activities had hindered Pakistan’s technological progress in the past.
At an international media conference in February, Chaudhry complained that Pakistan’s relations with digital media companies had deteriorated due to a number of court rulings in 2014.
TikTok “Maximum, Against Islamic Teachings”
The SHC’s decision was made during a motion hearing to suspend the motion on Monday, during which the court sent a notice to Pakistan’s attorney general ordering him to follow instructions and suspend the motion.
When presenting his argument in court, the petitioner’s attorney said that the Peshawar Supreme Court had previously banned TikTok because some of the videos uploaded to the platform were “immoral and against the teachings of Islam”.
The lawyer said his client had contacted the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) prior to the court’s relocation, but the PTA had taken no action.
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