ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday granted lawyer and activist Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, one-day protective bail in relation to their arrest warrants in a case linked to controversial social media posts.

The case has been registered under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 (Peca), in which the two have been accused of inciting divisions on linguistic grounds through social media posts and creating the impression that the armed forces were engaged in terrorism within the country.

On January 17, Mazari and Chattha challenged their arrest orders in the IHC, arguing that the trial court had unlawfully curtailed their right of defence, issued arrest warrants without fulfilling mandatory legal requirements, and ordered judicial custody along with virtual production.

Justice Azam Khan of the IHC took up the petition today and stayed the arrest of Mazari and Chattha until tomorrow.

Lawyer Kamran Murtaza, who represented the couple, informed the court that their bail had twice been cancelled.

“Now an order has been issued to arrest them,” he said.

He maintained that “if there were any misdoings on his client’s part, the judge should demonstrate patience”.

“The judge is holding hearings every 15 minutes,” he said.“Imaan is a woman, and she has been sick,” he added.

Earlier in the day, Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka had directed authorities to obtain a search warrant for Mazari and Chattha.

As the hearing at the sessions court resumed after two sittings, the prosecutor informed the session court that the two accused now have protective bail in the IHC and were ordered to appear before the court tomorrow.

The judge adjourned the proceedings until tomorrow.

Judge Majoka directed that the accused should be presented in the sessions court “within one hour of the appearance at IHC”.

The judge also refused to entertain a request from the assistant counsel for adjournment till the day after tomorrow, stating that the counsel had taken “undue advantage” and no concession would be provided.

Judge Majoka expresses displeasure

During the hearing earlier today, judge Majoka expressed displeasure over why the accused had not yet been arrested.

He directed the NCCIA officials to obtain a search warrant for the accused’s residence from a magistrate and ordered them to present Mazari and Chattha in court by 11am.

When the hearing resumed, National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) officials, police officials, and special prosecutors appeared before the court.

The court was informed that the arrest had not yet been made. NCCIA officials and police sought further time to submit a report regarding the arrest.

Judge Majoka then adjourned the hearing till 2pm, warning that “whoever’s report is unsatisfactory, action will be taken against them”.

On Saturday, the court reissued non-bailable arrest warrants against Mazari and Chattha for their repeated absences from trial proceedings.

In the certified copies of court orders dated January 17, Judge Majoka noted that earlier warrants could not be executed despite repeated attempts by law enforcement and the NCCIA.

During the proceedings, officials from the NCCIA submitted reports stating that the non-bailable warrants had returned unexecuted, with NCCIA Assistant Director Imran Haider informing the court that the accused had intentionally concealed themselves to avoid arrest.

At one point during the day, defence counsel Riasat Ali Azad requested an adjournment until Monday, arguing that the accused had challenged the court’s January 15 order cancelling their bail before the Islamabad high court.

The court subsequently accepted the request but ordered that non-bailable warrants be reissued against the accused.

Judge Majoka further directed the Islamabad deputy inspector general (Operations) and Cyber Crime Reporting Centre In-Charge Muhammad Iqbal to depute senior officers — not below the rank of superintendent of police or deputy director — from the NCCIA to execute the arrest warrants.

The case

The case stems from a complaint filed on August 12, 2025 at the NCCIA, Islamabad.

The complaint accused Mazari of disseminating and “propagating narratives that align with hostile terrorist groups and proscribed organisations”, while her husband was implicated for reposting some of her posts.

The first information report (FIR) of the case alleged that the two held security forces responsible for cases of missing persons in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

It also stated that they had portrayed the armed forces as ineffective against proscribed groups, including the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.

The accused were indicted in the case in October last year.