ISLAMABAD: Senior journalists, including Hamid Mir, Naseem Zahra, Adnan Haider, and Amir Abbas, filed a petition against the PECA Act amendment in the Islamabad High Court.
The petition was submitted through Islamabad High Court Bar President Riasat Ali Azaad and lawyer Imran Shafiq.
They have requested the court nullify the amendment.
Last month, Parliament approved the PECA Amendment Bill 2025, and President Asif Ali Zardari signed it into law.
After the Senate and National Assembly passed the PECA Amendment Bill, 2025, journalists staged protests nationwide, demanding the government repeal the legislation.Journalists had also walked out of Parliament in protest against the bill.
Earlier on Thursday, Lahore High Court (LHC) issued notices to the federal government and other parties on a petition that has challenged the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2025.
The petition claims that the new penalties in the amended PECA law will end freedom of expression in the country. It also alleges that the government made these amendments without consulting media organisations and other relevant stakeholders.
The petition argues that the PECA amendments violate the Constitution’s protections for freedom of expression. It urges the LHC to declare the PECA law unconstitutional and void.
