The National Assembly Standing Committee on Information and Technology has approved the draft Cyber Crime Bill 2015 to be prsented to the House despite ongoing protests from the opposition and the civil society. The Bill was tabled in the National Assembly to combat the increasing cyber crime in the country and to prevent terrorists from using information technology in their activities.
Committee Chairman Capt (r) Safdar assured committee members that more than 205 objections raised by different people during the creation of the Bill had been adequately addressed, however Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari, another member, protested that the final draft of the Bill had not been shown to the members of the Committee and had been approved secretly with further amendments. Pakistan People’s Party has also opposed the fact that copies of the draft were not laid before all the members yet the majority affirmed the proposed Bill.
Under the proposed law, imprisonment has been proposed for persons selling or dealing in illegal mobile SIMS and a strict punishment has been proposed for persons who violate online business agreements. Children below the age of 13 years have been exempted from the proposed punishments.
As per instructions of the IT Standing Committee, the approved draft Bill would be made available at moit.gov.pk
