Court directs cabinet summary
The Lahore High Court on Thursday told the federal government to forward a prepared summary to the federal cabinet in the smart glasses case, which centres on the unregulated import and sale of glasses fitted with cameras and microphones. Chief Justice Aalia Neelum adjourned further hearing until 12 November and ordered that the summary already drawn up be placed before the cabinet.
The matter returned on a public interest petition filed by citizen Husnainul Abideen through Advocate Shahram Saqi. Representatives from several departments, including customs, appeared as the chief justice resumed the hearing.
Privacy concerns raised in court
Chief Justice Neelum pressed whether departments had been inactive on the issue, asking if they had “fallen asleep” and warning that privacy could erode in the coming days. She asked whether the government knew that such glasses were being sold in shops and what steps it had taken. She also noted that, in future, anyone’s video could be recorded.
Those remarks frame the smart glasses case as a privacy and regulation dispute rather than a routine trade dispute: the devices can capture sound and images in public and private spaces without the obvious cues of a handheld phone.
Commerce ministry summary on Meta glasses
A deputy attorney general told the court that the ministry of commerce would prepare regulations to ban the import of Meta glasses and put them before the federal cabinet for approval. He said a summary had already been prepared for that purpose.
When the chief justice asked whether any policy had existed earlier, the law officer conceded that none had, which was why the issue had not been taken up before. That admission leaves open how imports and shop sales were handled until now, and what a cabinet decision would change for importers, retailers, and buyers.
What happens next
The court has fixed the next date for 12 November. By then, the government is expected to have forwarded the prepared summary so the cabinet can consider rules on these devices. Until a cabinet decision and formal regulations are notified, the legal and commercial status of such glasses remains as the government and courts continue to handle the smart glasses court case.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Lahore High Court ne hukoomat ko kaha hai ke smart glasses ke bare mein tayyar summary cabinet ko bheje. Yeh glasses camera aur microphone wale hain, jin se privacy ka khatra hai. Ab 12 November tak sunwai hogi. Aam logon ke liye yeh matlab hai ke in glasses ki import aur sale par jaldi rules aa sakte hain.
