FIA directed to register case against Cynthia

RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) was directed to register a case against Cynthia Ritchie for allegedly defaming former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on social media.

Additional District and Sessions Judge, Islamabad, Jahangir Awan on Monday announcing order, which he had reserved on June 13, rejected the FIA request to dismiss the petition against the US blogger.

PPP Islamabad President Shakeel Abbasi on Saturday had filed a petition stating that Ritchie had made “baseless” allegations against ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto, and a case should be registered against her.

Another application was filed by Nadeem Mughal, a resident of Islamabad.

The same court after hearing the argument on it ordered the FIA to file reply on this petition on the next date.

Judge Awan observed that the court would proceed in accordance with the reply submitted by the FIA in either case.

The court noted that Ritchie had not denied that she had posted the tweet, and “hence, a crime has been committed falling under Peca Act 2016”.

The FIA is, therefore, “competent” to probe the matter further in accordance with the law.

“FIA is directed to proceed in accordance with the law, conduct an inquiry and if there is sufficient material, register an FIR,” the verdict reads.

The court also observed that the allegations against Benazir were made 12 years after the PPP leader’s assassination, and that the US blogger “never agitated this fact before any competent authority and even not disclosed on the media.”

“So, at this stage after lapse of 12 years, her [Ritchie’s] disclosure to malign the character of deceased leader is apparently based on mala fide.”

Addressing an argument raised by the FIA earlier that under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016, only “aggrieved” persons were qualified to file such a petition, the ruling said that “in the present scenario [...] word ‘aggrieved’ is used instead of ‘legal heirs’”.

The court said that Benazir was “leader of millions and ex-prime minister of Pakistan, thus anyone from her followers can be treated as aggrieved person.”

On June 9, the FIA had asked an Islamabad sessions court to dismiss a plea against Cynthia for her slanderous tweets about Benazir Bhutto, contending that the petitioner, PPP Islamabad President Shakeel Abbasi, was not an affected party.

The FIA, in its written response to the court, argued that according to its rules, only the aggrieved party — the targeted victim or their guardian — could lodge such a complaint with the agency.

The PPP’s Islamabad president had filed the petition before Additional District and Sessions Judge Atta Rabbani under Section 22-A of the Criminal Procedure Code, seeking registration of a first information report (FIR) against the US blogger for allegedly defaming the slain PPP chairperson and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on social media.

On June 13, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) expressed its inability before the court to proceed against Cynthia.

The PTA took the stance that the authority lacked the jurisdiction to proceed against an individual over an alleged controversial tweet.