Chaired by Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, the committee held its inaugural meeting on Thursday.

It is the first parliamentary committee in Pakistan and the South Asian region with a dedicated mandate covering artificial intelligence and digital governance.

The meeting followed a three-day workshop for committee members, held in Islamabad from Sept 2 to 4 by UNDP Pakistan and the United Kingdom’s international development organisation. The workshop examined artificial intelligence and digital technologies, their potential benefits and risks, and the principles of responsible governance.

The committee considered an initial programme of parliamentary inquiry into the use of AI in Punjab, focusing on transparency, accountability, citizens’ rights, data security, effective remedies and meaningful human oversight.

Two provincial public service systems were identified for initial examination. The first is the Punjab Safe Cities Authority’s AI-assisted e-challan system.

The committee will examine the accuracy of violation detection, human validation of violations, citizens’ access to evidence, mechanisms for challenging and reviewing decisions, and the handling of related data.

The second relates to welfare assistance linked to the Punjab Socio-Economic Registry (PSER). The committee will examine registration and accessibility, data accuracy, eligibility assessments, explanations for adverse decisions, correction of inaccurate information and opportunities for reconsideration.

Importantly, the committee said it would establish through evidence how eligibility was actually determined — whether through manual assessment, fixed rules, statistical scoring, machine learning or a combination of these methods — rather than assuming that AI was involved.

The committee also discussed the constitutional and legal implications of emerging digital technologies, including digital harms, deepfakes, threats to democratic trust, risks to women and vulnerable groups, data governance and institutional capacity.

On January 24, an Islamabad sessions court sentenced Imaan and Hadi to a total of 17 years in jail on multiple charges under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca). The convictions of the couple, who had already been jailed the day before in a separate case, were widely condemned by lawyers and United Nations (UN) experts.

Islamabad ATC Judge Abul Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain passed the order after the two accused were produced before the court for a hearing in a case registered against them at Kohsar police station.

Soon after their release, Islamabad police personnel, led by the SSP Operations, reached Adiala jail and arrested the two again in connection with the case registered at Kohsar police station. The police subsequently produced them before the ATC late at night.

Former federal minister Shireen Mazari confirmed the development, saying attempts were being made to keep the couple in jail.

Speaking to Dawn, Imaan’s counsel Riasat Ali Azad also confirmed the development, saying a large contingent of Islamabad police had shifted the couple to Kohsar police station.

SC suspends sentences

Earlier today, the apex court suspended their sentences after a two-judge SC bench, headed by Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, took up the couple’s appeals against the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) refusal in February to suspend the sentences.

On Thursday, the SC granted the couple bail against surety bonds of Rs200,000 and ordered their release pending the IHC’s final verdict.

“Both are lawyers and we are keeping their honour,” observed Justice Afghan, but also asked senior counsel Faisal Siddiqui, the couple’s lawyer, to tell the appellants to observe the court’s decorum.

“There is a difference between a lawyer and an ordinary person,” the judge observed.

According to a written order, the SC converted the petitions of both Imaan and Hadi into appeals and suspended the operation of the January 24 conviction.

The court also ordered the release of petitioners — noting they were practising advocates — on bail till the decision of their pending appeals before IHC. The release was subject to furnishing personal surety bonds worth Rs200,000 for each with the SC’s additional registrar (judicial).

The SC will issue a detailed verdict on the case later.

Earlier, the SC had repeatedly adjourned hearings in the case on the grounds that the IHC had fixed their application for suspension of sentence along with the main appeal.

During Thursday’s hearing, Siddiqui argued that the SC had issued its first order on May 12 in which the IHC was asked to decide the applicants’ petition for suspension of sentence as expeditiously as possible, preferably within a period of two weeks.

On May 12, the SC ordered the IHC to decide Imaan and Hadi’s sentence suspension pleas within two weeks. Despite the May 26 deadline having already passed, the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) challenged the SC order and sought its withdrawal.

During the proceedings, Siddiqui also read out the order sheets from various IHC hearings.

At one point, the SC directed Additional Attorney General (AAG) Rana Asadullah Khan, who was standing at the rostrum, to take a seat, adding that the court will hear Siddiqui first.

“Let him sit, though he has certainly worn us out,” Siddiqui quipped and cited former chief justice Asif Saeed Khosa’s remarks that a case would only be adjourned upon the death of a judge or a lawyer.

The counsel regretted that the IHC adjourned the case multiple times and that his clients’ request for an early hearing was rejected by the high court’s registrar office.

“What transpired at the high court came as a surprise to us,” the counsel said.

“These days are an era of surprises,” remarked Justice Ibrahim.

During the hearing, the AAG contended that the IHC has not yet issued any adverse ruling, adding that seven opportunities were provided in the trial court.

He highlighted that the judicial forum for the suspension of a sentence under Section 426 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) was the high court.

Justice Afghan observed that the IHC always cited the SC directives for early disposal of the case but does not act upon them.

The judge also asked AAG Khan whether he would give any assurance that proceedings would be held at the next IHC hearing, to which the latter replied that he cannot represent any high court judge in the SC.

Later, the SC suspended the sentence of the applicants and ordered their release on bail, pending the IHC’s final verdict.

In their applications, the applicants had stated that it was a settled policy of the SC that criminal matters have to be given priority, especially when the matters pertain to bail or suspension of sentence.

Moreover, in Section 7 of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023, it was expressly stated that any application pleading urgency shall be fixed for hearing within a period of 14 days.

The application contended that Imaan was a young female lawyer and has remained incarcerated for a long period of time in a case where conviction was the “result of a sham trial”.

The case

Imaan and Hadi have been in jail since their arrest on January 23 in a case registered against them for protesting outside the IHC and allegedly manhandling the IHC Bar Association (IHCBA) president. The arrest prompted criticism by rights bodies, politicians and journalists, who stressed the couple’s right to a fair trial.

Just a day later, a sessions court convicted Imaan and Hadi in the social media posts case.

It sentenced the duo to 10 years’ imprisonment under Section 10 (cyber terrorism), five years’ imprisonment under Section 9 (glorification of an offence) and two years’ imprisonment under Section 26-A (false and fake information) of Peca.

All sentences were to run concurrently.

The case stemmed from a complaint filed on Aug 12, 2025 by the assistant director (investigating officer) at the NCCIA Islamabad, before the Federal Investigation Agency’s Cybercrime Reporting Centre.

The complaint accused Imaan of disseminating and “propagating narratives that align with hostile terrorist groups and proscribed organisations”, while her husband was implicated for reposting some of her posts.

The first information report (FIR) in the case alleged that the two held security forces responsible for cases of missing persons in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

It also stated that they had portrayed the armed forces as ineffective against proscribed groups, including the banned outfits Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Judge Majoka had indicted Imaan and Hadi in the case on Oct 30, 2025 and issued arrest warrants for the couple on Nov 5, 2025. The judge then reissued arrest warrants for them in January after repeated non-appearances.

After being convicted, the couple challenged the sentences by filing separate appeals in the IHC on February 7. Taking up those appeals and sentence suspension pleas on February 19, the IHC issued notices to the respondents but refused to suspend the sentences.

On April 30, Imaan and Hadi moved a separate appeal before the SC against the IHC’s February order. They sought an early hearing of the plea in June, after which notices were issued on July 6.

After the SC’s intervention, the IHC finally declared the jailed couple’s pleas seeking suspension of sentences as admissible on July 25. Days later, Imaan moved the SC again seeking an early hearing of the challenge against the IHC order.

The government on Thursday cut the price of petrol by Rs0.43 per litre but raised that of high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs3.47 per litre.

Following the revision, petrol will retail at Rs390.79 per litre while HSD will cost Rs424.92 per litre. The government continues to levy Rs114 per litre in taxes and duties on petrol and Rs100 per litre on diesel.

According to the Petroleum Division’s notification, the new prices will be applicable on Sept 18 (Friday).

According to Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), the increase is primarily linked to higher petrol and diesel prices in the international market.

The regulator said the prices were revised based on international market rates, premiums and other relevant factors.

The price of HSD has come down from a peak of Rs520.35 recorded on April 3. Its price had started rising from Rs281 per litre after the US-Iran war broke out on February 28.

The petrol price had peaked at Rs458.41 on April 3 after beginning its upward trajectory from Rs266 in the first week of March.

On September 13, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced a “relief scheme” for users of motorcycles, autos and vehicles of up to 800cc to “alleviate the burden” of rising global oil prices.

A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said owners of two- and three-wheelers would receive relief of Rs100 per litre on a monthly quota of 20 litres, while owners of vehicles up to 800cc would receive the same relief on a monthly quota of 30 litres.

On July 17, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik announced that fuel prices would now be fixed on a daily basis due to fluctuations in international market prices following renewed hostilities between Iran and the US.

Prior to this, the government had been announcing weekly revisions to fuel prices since early March, alongside measures for the conservation of fuel amid possible oil supply disruptions due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The federal government in April also announced targeted relief measures to provide subsidised fuel.

The petroleum minister stated that the cabinet and the prime minister had decided to give the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) the responsibility of deciding fuel prices on a daily basis based on international market trends.

Petrol is mainly used in private transport, small vehicles, rickshaws and two-wheelers, and changes in its price affect the middle and lower-middle classes.

Similarly, changes in diesel prices also impact the public at large, as it is mainly used in the heavy transport sector, power plants and large generators.

Petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) are the major revenue earners, with monthly sales of about 700,000 to 800,000 tonnes, compared to just 10,000 tonnes of monthly demand for kerosene.