KARACHI: A judicial magistrate on Thursday dismissed the bail plea of anchorperson Iqrarul Hassan, observing that releasing him at this stage would pose a “real risk of obstruction” to the ongoing investigation.
Mr Hassan was arrested at his home in Lahore in connection with a case registered in Karachi for allegedly disseminating anti-state, false and defamatory content on social media. He was booked under multiple provisions, including cyber terrorism, under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Peca) Act.
Judicial Magistrate (East) took up the bail plea on Thursday and after hearing arguments from both sides, dismissed the application, observing: “The investigation is at a critical and nascent stage… releasing the applicant on bail at this premature juncture carries a real risk of obstruction to the ongoing technical probe, potential deletion or remote wiping of digital accounts, or tampering with electronic logs through third parties.”
The court further observed that the impugned video of the anchorperson went “beyond legitimate criticism or commentary and amounted to the glorification of convicts sentenced by competent judicial courts.”
Says releasing him would pose risk of obstruction to ongoing investigation against him
It added that glorifying convicted offenders on public digital forums, coupled with calls challenging constitutional implementation, directly attracts the penal provisions of Section 9 (Glorification of an offence) of Peca, which forms the underlying predicate for the statutory charge under Section 10 (Cyber terrorism) of the Act.
The court noted that the recovery of the digital devices from Mr Hassan allegedly connected him with the operational control of the social media accounts in question.
The judge observed that the freedom of speech under Article 19 of the Constitution is a “cherished fundamental right, it is expressly subject to reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the integrity, security or defence of Pakistan, public order and decency.”
The court noted that the freedom of expression cannot be converted into an “unbridled license to undermine state institutions, spread fabricated narratives, or incite public disaffection against Constitutional functionaries.”
During the arguments, defence counsel Mian Ali Ashfaq argued before the court that Mr Hassan was a reputed journalist and had no prior criminal record.
He further contended that the FIR was vague and did not quote the exact defamatory or anti-state words.
Referring to cyber terrorism, the counsel argued that the section was inapplicable as there was no allegation of “unauthorised system breach or glorification of a proscribed terrorist organisation”.
He further maintained that the remaining sections, except Section 10 of Peca, did not fall within the ambit of the prohibitory clause.
On the other hand, NCCIA’s prosecutor Tariq Arbab opposed the bail plea and argued that Section 10 falls within the ambit of the prohibitory clause, adding that Mr Hassan was a prominent media personality enjoying millions of digital followers and knowingly used his public reach to “propagate false narratives to undermine the state institutions and incite disaffection across the federation.”
He argued that the investigation was at a “critical stage”, while forensic reports from service providers and network logs were awaited.
The prosecutor maintained that if the suspect were released on bail at this stage, he would allegedly “misuse his public profile and digital access to tamper with the evidence or continue disseminating anti-state material”.
Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2026
