PECA 2016 § 36 — Dealing with seized data or information system

Statutory text (English)

(1) If any data or information system
has been seized or secured following a search or seizure under this Act, the authorized officer who
undertook the search or seizure shall, at the time of the seizure,—
(a) make a list of what has been seized or rendered inaccessible, with the date and
time of seizure; and
(b) give a copy of that list to,—
(i) the occupier of the premises; or
(ii) the owner of the data or information system; or
(iii) the person from whose possession the data or information system has
been seized, in a prescribed manner in the presence of two witnesses.

(2) The authorized officer, upon an application of the owner of the data or information system
or an authorized agent of the owner and on payment of prescribed costs, shall provide forensic image
of the data or information system to the owner or his authorized agent within a time prescribed under
this Act.

(3) If the authorized officer has reasons to believe that providing forensic image of the data or
information system to the owner under sub-section

(2) may prejudice,—
(a) the investigation in connection with which the search was carried out; or
(b) another ongoing investigation; or
(c) any criminal proceedings that are pending or that may be brought in relation to
any of those investigations, the authorized officer shall, within seven days of
receipt of the application under sub-section

(2), approach the Court for seeking
an order not to provide copy of the seized data or information system.

(4) The Court, upon receipt of an application from an authorized officer under sub-section

(3),
may after recording reasons in writing pass such order as deemed appropriate in the circumstances of
the case.

(5) The costs associated with the exercise of rights under this section shall be borne by the
person exercising these rights.

Source and verification

Source citation: PECA 2016 (Act XL of 2016) s.36: Pakistan Code portal consolidated official PDF 'THE PREVENTION OF ELECTRONIC CRIMES ACT, 2016' (incl. Act XXXVII of 2023 & Act II of 2025 amendments), p. 31, 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. 31) — reflects all amendments recorded in the official footnotes up to ingest date 2026-09-15. Automated transcription; per-amendment version…

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