Info Minister responds to TikTok ban, calls it ‘judicial activism’

ISLAMABAD – Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry Wednesday called for the need of judicial reforms in wake of the recent decisions of TikTok ban and removal of NBP president.

The outspoken ruling party leader took to his official Twitter where he stressed the need for judicial reforms and questioned recent high court decisions of banning the social media app besides setting aside the appointment of the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) president.

Chaudhry wrote that Pakistan would never be able to come out of an economic crisis unless judicial reforms were implemented.

عدالتی اصلاحات نہ کی گئیں تو ملک اقتصادی بحران سے کبھی باہر نہیں نکل سکے گا کل سے TikTok کو بین کرنے اور نیشنل بینک کے صدر کو ہٹانے کے فیصلے پڑہ کر سر چکرا گیا ہے کہ ہماری عدالتیں کیا کر رہی ہیں ؟ پہلے ہی یہ ملک ایسے جوڈیشل ایکٹوازم کے ہاتھوں اربوں ڈالر کے نقصانات برداشت کر رہاہے

— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) June 30, 2021

Taking a jibe at the decisions, he said ‘I am confused after reading about the decision to ban TikTok and remove the NBP president. What are our courts doing? The country has already suffered losses worth billions of dollars due to judicial activism’.

On Monday, the Sindh High Court ordered the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to suspend access to TikTok in Pakistan till July 8 over immoral, objectionable content.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Tuesday ordered the removal of National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) President Arif Usmani and the bank's Chairman Board of Directors (BoD) Zubair Soomro with immediate effect.

Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani announced the ruling reserved by the court earlier this month on a petition filed against the appointment of Usmani.