The Ministry of Interior Affairs informed the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday that X, formerly known as Twitter, has been suspended based on reports received by security agencies, adding that content posted on the web poses a "threat" to national security.
The Interior Ministry joint secretary made the statements during a hearing on journalist Ehtesham Abbasi's lawsuit against the shutdown of X.
X, a key source of information, has been unavailable in Pakistan to millions of users for more than a month, following its suspension on February 17.
During today's hearing, the Interior Ministry's joint secretary appeared before the court and presented a report.
The court inquired if there was any formal communication regarding the closure of X.
The IHC chief justice remarked, "What is the method? What is this attitude? "Help the court," adding that everything is "closed and jammed."
The court instructed the joint secretary to provide written information about the threat to national security rather than making verbal remarks in court.
"Show us the papers." "There will be no verbal dialogue," remarked Justice Farooq.
The CJ stated that his secretary will prepare an improved report than the one at hand. At this point, the joint secretary asked IHC CJ Farooq to have a glance at the other page.
At this point, the IHC CJ inquired whether this was the joint secretary's first appearance before the court.
The court stated that there must be evidence of the threat. "You blocked X on the Intelligence Bureau's (IB) report. There are no explanations stated in it; it is simply a report based on guesswork," it said.
Justice Farooq directed that the joint secretary provide any additional rulings issued by other courts in this matter. The court summoned the interior secretary on April 17.
"There is malice in every institution," remarked IHC Chief Justice Farooq, adding that now that the elections are done, the situation should be resolved.
"Let the interior secretary show up, and we'll see. If nothing occurs by then, we will call the prime minister," he said.
At this point, the joint secretary urged the court not to bring any high-ranking officials, hoping for another chance.