PECA 2016 § 31 — Expedited preservation and acquisition of data

Statutory text (English)

(1) If an authorised officer is satisfied
that—
(a) specific data stored in any information system or by means of an information
system is reasonably required for the purposes of a criminal investigation; and
(b) there is a risk or vulnerability that the data may be modified, lost, destroyed or
rendered inaccessible,
the authorized officer may, by written notice given to the person in control of the information
system, require that person to provide that data or to ensure that the data specified in the notice be
preserved and the integrity thereof is maintained for a period not exceeding ninety days as specified in
the notice:

Provided that the authorized officer shall immediately but not later than twenty-four hours bring
to the notice of the Court, the fact of acquisition of such data and the Court on receipt of such
information may pass such orders as deemed appropriate in the circumstances of the case including
issuance of warrants for retention of such data or otherwise.

(2) The period provided in sub-section

(1) for preservation of data may be extended by the
Court if so deemed necessary upon receipt of an application from the authorized officer in this behalf.

Source and verification

Source citation: PECA 2016 (Act XL of 2016) s.31: Pakistan Code portal consolidated official PDF 'THE PREVENTION OF ELECTRONIC CRIMES ACT, 2016' (incl. Act XXXVII of 2023 & Act II of 2025 amendments), p. 28, ingested 2026-09-15. Automated transcription from official source (pypdf extraction, audited artifact repair); human admin re-check required before production.

Verification status: verified · Text status: auto_transcribed_verified_source

The record cites an official source, but its transcription is automated or only partly checked; a human re-check is pending.

Official Urdu text status: pending_official_urdu_text. Where official Urdu wording has not been sourced, Qanoon does not substitute an unverified translation for the statutory text.

Historical text notes

1 historical record is linked to this section. Historical wording may be incomplete or pending verification; it is not presented as current law.

• Date not confirmed: Consolidated current text as published in the official Pakistan Code PDF (p. 28) — reflects all amendments recorded in the official footnotes up to ingest date 2026-09-15. Automated transcription; per-amendment version…

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