ISLAMABAD: A local court on Saturday rejected the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency’s (NCCIA) request for the physical remand of journalist Fakharur Rehman and instead sent him to jail on judicial remand.

Mr Rehman was arrested a day earlier under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca).

According to an NCCIA first information report (FIR) dated April 20, the journalist was one of nine accused of spreading “false and misleading information against state institutions” through the social media platform X.

On Saturday, Mr Rehman was produced before the court of District Magistrate Yasir Mahmood.

Magistrate denies NCCIA’s request for physical custody of Fakharur Rehman

Defence counsel Ahad Kho­khar argued that the prosecution had failed to clearly establish the extent of Mr Rehman’s alleged role.

He maintained that the journalist had merely quoted statements made by a religious scholar in a post on X and not expressed any personal opinion.

The defence further contended that thousands of social media users had shared the video in question, wondering why no action had been taken against the original speaker.

The lawyer also asked whether the investigation officer had recorded the statement of the cleric whose remarks were being referenced.

He informed the court that Mr Rehman had already responded to the NCCIA notice issued on April 14, asserting that he had not spread any false information. He added that the journalist had been cooperating with investigators and was available whenever required.

The lawyer opposed physical remand, noting that the journalist’s mobile phone had already been taken into custody and that no further recovery was pending. He requested the court to discharge his client from the case.

The NCCIA prosecutor argued that Mr Rehman had admitted ownership of the social media post but had not provided the password to his mobile phone. The agency maintained that further examination of the device was necessary and sought his physical remand for that purpose.

After hearing the arguments, the magistrate rejected the request for physical remand and ordered that Mr Rehman be sent to jail on judicial remand.

The NCCIA had registered the FIR under Section 20 (offences against the dignity of a natural person) and Section 26-A (dissemination of false and fake information) of Peca.

The FIR stated that Mr Reh­man, journalist Sabir Shakir, an­­chorperson Moeed Pirzada, PTI’s Jibran Ilyas, Rizwan Ahmed Khan, Syed Haider Raza Mehdi, Adil Farooq Raja and Aqil Hussain had allegedly “with malafide intention and ulterior motives knowingly disseminated/propagated fake, false, misleading and misinterpreted information leading to hatred against government functionaries”.

It contended that such content was “likely to cause fear, panic, unrest and disorder among the general public and in society”.

The complaint added that a review of the nominated individuals’ social media activities revealed a “deliberate pattern of conduct involving mocking, ridiculing and maligning state institutions”.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2026