- Counsel for the petitioners maintains that the case was baseless and fabricated.
- The ATC judge approves the couple’s bail on sureties of Rs 10,000 each.
- IHC Sends Notices to NCCIA Regarding Conviction in Controversial Tweeting Case.
ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court in the federal capital on Thursday granted post-arrest bail to lawyer and activist Imaan Mazari and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha in a case linked to an alleged scuffle with police.
The couple was arrested by Islamabad police last month for their alleged involvement in an altercation outside the Islamabad High Court (IHC). The case was registered at the Secretariat police station.
The applications were heard by Justice Abul Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain of the ATC, who approved the release on bail of Imaan and Chattha against sureties of Rs 10,000 each.
During the hearing, lawyer Riasat Ali Azad argued on behalf of the petitioners, saying the case was fabricated and surfaced suddenly. He contended that the FIR was unfounded and based on a fictitious incident. Even those named were not aware of the matter, he added.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the court reserved its verdict and later announced its approval of the bail applications.
It is worth noting that the couple will remain behind bars despite being released on bail as a district and sessions court in Islamabad also convicted them in a separate case, the controversial tweets case, last month.
Opinions published in controversial tweet case
In related news, the IHC has issued notices to the National Cybercrime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) regarding Imaan and Chattha’s petitions against their conviction.
In separate applications filed with the High Court, they argued that their convictions were the result of a “manifestly unlawful and arbitrary trial.”
The couple also requested that their sentence be suspended and that they be released on bail pending the final decision of the main appeal.
The sentencing came just a day after their arrest in last month’s affray case, when Additional Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka sentenced the husband and wife to a total of 17 years in prison each under different sections related to controversial social media posts.
According to the 22-page written verdict, Mazari and her husband were each sentenced to five years in prison and fined 5 million rupees each under Article 9 of the Peca; sentenced to 10 years each with a fine of Rs30 million each under article 10 of the Peca.
Moreover, the couple was also convicted under Section 26-A of Peca and sentenced to 2 years each with a fine of Rs 1 million each.
The two men had been arrested by the NCCIA under sections 9, 10, 11 and 26 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 (Peca) and were subsequently charged on October 30, 2025.
The first information report (FIR) alleges that the couple tried to create divisions on linguistic grounds through social media posts.
