The Lahore High Court (LHC) Wednesday issued a notice to the Director General Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on a petition filed by Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari, seeking action against persons involved in sharing her edited video on social media. Chief Justice LHC, Aalia Neelum heard the petition filed by the information minister as an objection case and overruled the objection after hearing the initial arguments from the petitioner’s counsel. The court directed the registrar’s office to fix the petition for hearing on Thursday. Azma Bukhari had sought action against those involved in sharing an edited video of her on social media. She alleged that PTI activist Falak Javed Khan edited and disseminated the video online. She argued that the incident had defamed her on social media and violated her constitutional rights. She asked the court to direct the FIA to take action against the respondents and submit a compliance report.

After attending the case proceedings, the provincial minister while talking to media said that her videos were being uploaded again and the FIA had neither taken any action nor summoned anyone in this case. She criticized PTI members for pretending to be innocent while being involved in uploading her videos. She emphasized that she was taking a stand for herself and other women in the country. She said, “Today, a hearing took place on my petition, but no satisfactory progress has been made so far. The LHC chief justice has kindly fixed my petition for hearing on Thursday after removing the objections,” she added. The Punjab Information Minister stated that these people were not refraining from their malicious practices, but Allah had given her enough strength and courage to endure all this. “What is the last option left for other women, except committing suicide? So should we commit suicide?” she queried.

“A woman like me, who holds a public office, also has to visit the courts in the morning to seek relief for herself,” she added. Responding to a question, Azma Bokhari mentioned that she had learned a three-member committee had been constituted by the FIA regarding this case. “This committee has neither contacted me to date, nor do I know what they are doing,” she added. “Those who committed indecency are still roaming free. Allah knows what kind of guarantees have been given to them. I have identified many fake accounts in the petition, but now it’s not my job to point out who is posting from these fake accounts again. It should be the task of the institutions and the FIA to identify these fake accounts,” she concluded.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan