ISLAMABAD: Lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha filed a petition in the Supreme Court on Wednesday, seeking an early hearing of their challenge to a Feb 19 Islamabad High Court (IHC) decision in the controversial social media posts case.

On Jan 24, an Islamabad sessions court sentenced Ms Mazari and Mr Chattha to a total of 17 years in jail on multiple charges under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca). In February, the IHC had denied the lawyers’ plea for suspension of their 17-year sentences under Peca.

The controversy at the centre of the case stems from a complaint filed under Peca on August 12, 2025, by the NCCIA Islamabad assistant director (investigating officer) before the Cybercrime Reporting Centre, FIA.

The complaint accused Ms 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.

It’s a settled SC policy to give priority to criminal matters, argues fresh plea

Filed on Wednesday through senior counsel Faisal Siddiqi, the application sought the fixing of an earlier appeal challenging the sentence under Article 185(3) of the Constitution and requested a hearing next week.

Although the high court issued notices to the respondents on the application, it did not suspend their sentences.

“It is the settled policy of the Supreme Court that criminal matters were given priority, especially when the matters pertain to bail or suspension of sentence,” the new application said.

It also highlighted Section 7 of the SC (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023, which states that any application pleading urgency should be fixed for hearing within a period of 14 days.

Ms Mazari and Mr Chattha have been in jail since their arrest in January in a case registered against the two for protesting outside the IHC and allegedly manhandling the IHC Bar Association president.

While the arrest prompted criticism by rights bodies, politicians, and journalists, who stressed the couple’s right to a fair trial, a sessions court sentenced them to 17 years in prison in the social media posts case just a day after the development.

The couple had challenged their conviction by filing separate appeals in the IHC on February 7.

On April 30, they had moved another appeal in the SC, seeking an early hearing of their pleas against their conviction.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2026