The Lahore High Court has issued an important ruling regarding the legal liability of WhatsApp group members and admins.
According to media report, the high court held in a significant judgment that merely being a member or an admin of a WhatsApp group does not, by itself, constitute a crime or create criminal liability.
The court clarified that the individual who uploads, forwards, or shares illegal or blasphemous content on WhatsApp will be personally responsible for their actions.
Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh issued the 13-page judgment while dismissing the post-arrest bail petition of accused Syed Abdul Mannan in an FIA cybercrime case. The ruling has been declared a judicial precedent.
The court also directed that the trial in the case be completed at the earliest.
The judgment states that merely being present in a WhatsApp group or remaining silent is not sufficient to establish a criminal offence. Likewise, criminal liability cannot be imposed solely on the basis of a person being a group admin.
The judgment also held that the FIA’s technical analysis report is, at first glance, reliable and consequently dismissed Syed Abdul Mannan’s post-arrest bail application.
The ruling also states that a group administrator’s authority is generally limited to adding or removing members and does not, by itself, create criminal liability for messages posted by other participants.
However, the judgement noted that an administrator may face criminal responsibility if a group is created for an unlawful purpose or if the administrator personally participates in uploading, forwarding or disseminating illegal content.
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