Court Grants Pre-arrest Bail To Lawyers Imaan Mazari,Hadi Ali Chatha

Sumaira FH Published September 11, 2025 | 08:00 PM

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Sep, 2025) The District & Sessions Court of Islamabad on Thursday approved pre-arrest bail for lawyers Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chatha in a case registered over social media posts, after hearing arguments from both sides.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka granted pre-arrest bail to lawyers Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chatha. The decision came after the court heard detailed arguments from the petitioners’ legal team and the prosecution.

Both applicants appeared in court, represented by lawyer Riasat Ali Azad and District Bar President Naeem Gujar. Azad read out the contents of the First Information Report (FIR), arguing that the sections mentioned in it did not apply to the case.

He said the only allegation against Chatha was that he had retweeted one of Mazari’s posts, while higher courts had already given rulings on similar matters.

Azad further pointed out that the FIR was based on an incident reported four years earlier, and neither Mazari nor Chatha had been issued any prior notice.

He argued that if the petitioners were jailed, the damage caused by detention could not be reversed, and therefore requested the court to grant them pre-arrest bail.

District Bar President Naeem Gujar said the tweets presented before the court only highlighted concerns over injustice and did not contain contemptuous or unlawful content. Gujar announced his solidarity with Mazari and Chatha on behalf of the bar.

Representing the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), prosecutor Sheikh Aamir opposed the bail requests.

He argued that the tweets under question were not old, as they were from 2025, and that both Mazari and Chatha had admitted to posting them. However, he noted, they had not surrendered their mobile phones or other devices for investigation.

After hearing both sides, the court reserved its decision. Later, Judge Majoka announced the ruling, accepting the petitions and granting pre-arrest bail to both lawyers.