KARACHI: A judicial magistrate has granted post-arrest bail to a man held on charges of online defamation under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca).

Judicial Magistrate (West) Inaamullah Phulpoto granted bail against the surety bond of Rs50,000 along with personal recognisance bond to the applicant, Abdul Lateef Waar, a social media content creator, who was arrested by the Surjani Town police in May on a complaint lodged by property dealer Singar Ali.

The complainant had nominated four men, including the applicant, in the FIR, alleging that they had uploaded “false and defamatory content” regarding his under-construction buildings on plots and houses on social media, causing reputational damage and business losses.

In a detailed order, the court observed that the case had been registered under Peca, which does not fall within the jurisdiction of the local police.

Suspect booked, arrested for uploading ‘defamatory content’ on under-construction buildings

It noted that the court had already directed the local police during remand period to transfer the case to the competent authority, the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA).

Explaining the reasons for granting bail, the court observed that there had been prolonged delays in the investigation, repeated remand proceedings, delayed transfer of the investigation, and repeated non-appearance of the concerned officials, resulting in repeated adjournments.

The court further noted that the NCCIA had not even received the case file as late as June 4 and that the investigation had only recently been entrusted to the present investigating officer.

The magistrate also observed that the NCCIA and the state prosecutor had failed to demonstrate any necessity for the applicant’s continued custodial detention and held that, in view of the settled principles governing the grant of bail, the applicant was entitled to post-arrest bail.

“It is also significant that no final report or challan has yet been submitted before the court. Questions concerning authenticity of electronic material, admissibility of digital evidence, forensic examination of electronic devices, ownership or operation of social media accounts, publication of allegedly offending content, attribution of liability, and all other factual controversies remain matters requiring thorough investigation and eventual determination during trial,” the court observed.

“At this stage, the court is not required to undertake a deeper examination of the evidentiary worth of the prosecution case. Nevertheless, the overall circumstances reflected by the record undeniably indicate that the investigation has not progressed to a stage where continued detention of the applicant can be justified solely on the basis of administrative delays and institutional inertia,” it added.

“The settled principles governing bail further require that where continued incarceration serves no meaningful investigational purpose, and where the prosecution fails to demonstrate exceptional circumstances warranting further detention, the liberty of the accused should not be curtailed unnecessarily. Criminal jurisprudence consistently recognises that procedural delays attributable to investigating agencies cannot indefinitely deprive an accused of liberty. The object of bail is to secure attendance of the accused at trial and not to inflict pre-conviction punishment.”

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2026