KARACHI: Judicial Magistrate Yusra Ashfaq on Thursday reserved till Friday (today) her order on the post-arrest bail application of journalist Farhan Mallick.

Applicant’s counsel Advocate Abdul Moiz Jaferii submitted that Mr Mallick ran a YouTube channel publicly and was its openly-disclosed CEO. However, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) presented its report in a manner that suggested the channel was being operated in secrecy, he added.

He emphasised in his submission that nowhere had the FIA mentioned what crime his client had committed.

He also stated that if any video had hurt the dignity of an institution, it was not specified which institution had been affected.

He further stated that the complainant mentioned in the FIR as a ‘source’, whose identity had not been disclosed yet, nor had it been revealed which institution they represented.

State prosecutor Aijaz Kalwar submitted that they had found seven links in which Pakistan’s name was allegedly mocked, and inappropriate language was also used against the armed forces and other institutions.

Additionally, he stated that the comments in those videos also contained objectionable content.

He strongly opposed the bail plea and argued that as a journalist, Mr Mallick should have demonstrated responsibility.

After hearing both sides, the court reserved its order, which is expected to be pronounced on Friday (today).

The magistrate summoned an additional director of the FIA for Friday (today) for failing to comply with the court order regarding jail custody of Mr Mallick.

The court expressed dissatisfaction with the FIA when the defence counsel submitted that Mr Mallick was not sent to prison despite a court order. Instead, he continued, Mr Mallick was booked in a second case, produced before a Malir court on Wednesday, where his physical custody was obtained again for five days.

When the IO failed to provide any name, the magistrate issued a show-cause notice to the IO and called a report from the additional director of the FIA Cyber Crime Cell and directed him to appear in person on Friday (today) before the court.

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2025