SC summons Director PTA
By Asim Hussain

ISLAMABAD—The apex court has summoned Member (Technical) of Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) on March 18 to explain as to why the mobile companies are selling mobile phone SIMs in open market without registering the names of customers.
A full bench of the Supreme Court was hearing the suo moto case in this regard here on Wednesday. The suo moto proceedings had been started by the deposed chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on the application of Rana Shahid Pervez, DSP Cantt, Rawalpindi. The bench consisted of Justice Faqeer Muhammad Khokhar, Justice Muhammad Akhtar Shabir and Justice Zia Pervez.
Rana Shahid Pervez submitted before the court that sale of SIMs in the open market without registering the names and other particulars of the purchasers were creating difficulties for the police in probing crimes of various kinds in which mobile phone was used. The police was thus having a bad name, he maintained Se submitted that as the SIMs were not being sold in particular names, it was leading to increase of crimes particularly robberies.—Agencies