ISLAMABAD: The Special Court of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Thursday granted post-arrest bail to journalist Khalid Jamil in controversial tweets case.

Special Judge Central Shahrukh Arjumand accepted the bail petition of Jamil against Rs50,000 surety bonds.

The FIA’s Cyber Crimes Wing registered the FIR against Jamil under Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) for maligning the state institutions and judiciary.

Advocate Naveed Malik, counsel for Jamil argued before the court that the FIR was registered on two baseless allegations. He argued that Article 19 ensures the freedom of expression and the FIA invoked Section 20 of Peca which the IHC had already declared ultra vires to the constitution.

The counsel contended that the FIA had submitted the standard operating procedure (SOP) before the IHC during the hearing of the Peca case for making arrest. However, the journalist was taken into custody in violation of that SOP.

The prosecution on the other hand contended that the journalist tweeted to support the narrative against the national institutions which damaged the country’s image.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2023