ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has granted post-arrest bail to 10 Chinese nationals accused in a cybercrime case involving alleged illegal call centre activities, directing them to appear before the trial court at every hearing and barring them from leaving Pakistan without prior permission.

Justice Shahrukh Arjumand issued a five-page written order while allowing the bail petitions and directed each accused to furnish bail bonds of Rs500,000.

The court observed that no specific role or clear act had been attributed to the accused in the alleged offences. It noted that no specific electronic or independent evidence had been presented to establish their individual involvement in electronic fraud or transmission of obscene material.

According to the order, the exact role, knowledge and connection of each accused with the alleged activities would have to be determined on the basis of evidence during the trial.

The high court observed that, at the present stage, the individual connection of the accused with the alleged offences was not clearly established and the case warranted further investigation.

The court further noted that the investigating agency had already taken into possession the relevant electronic and documentary material. Therefore, it held that further detention of the accused was not required for the purposes of investigation.

Addressing the prosecution’s concern regarding the accused being foreign nationals, the court observed that their attendance could be secured by imposing appropriate conditions. It accordingly directed the accused to appear before the trial court on every date of hearing and prohibited them from leaving Pakistan without obtaining prior permission from the trial court.

The court also took into consideration the principle of parity, noting that the principal accused had already been granted bail.

The written order referred to the bail granted to co-accused Zahoor Alam by the Islamabad High Court on September 9, 2026, while another co-accused, Haider Khan, had been released on bail by the trial court on August 29, 2026.

In view of the circumstances and the principle of parity, the high court held that the present accused were also entitled to the relief of bail.

The court clarified that the prosecution would be at liberty to seek cancellation of bail if any of the accused violated the conditions imposed by the court or failed to appear before the trial court.

The accused will now face trial while remaining subject to the conditions imposed in the high court’s order.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2026