IHC declares Imaan's plea maintainable

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has declared the sentence suspension petitions filed by lawyer Imaan Mazari and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha maintainable, rejecting the prosecution's objections regarding their admissibility.

Justice Muhammad Azam Khan announced the reserved verdict on Saturday, dismissing the prosecution's miscellaneous application that challenged the petitions' maintainability.

Following its ruling on the maintainability issue, the court adjourned the hearing indefinitely.

A trial court in January this year sentenced both Imaan and Hadi to seventeen-year imprisonment for posting "anti-state" content on social media. The couple later challenged the verdict in the IHC.

The IHC on Friday reserved its decision on the maintainability of sentence suspension petitions.

During the hearing, the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) raised objections to the maintainability of the applications, arguing that the petitions had been filed prematurely.

The NCCIA's counsel contended that the sentence suspension petitions were not maintainable at this stage and requested the court to hear the prosecution's miscellaneous application first.

"If the other miscellaneous application is heard first, our application will become ineffective," the counsel argued. Representing Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha, Advocate Faisal Siddiqi told the court that he was prepared to argue the miscellaneous application immediately.

He said the prosecution wanted the sentence suspension petitions to be dismissed and suggested that both matters could be heard together. Addressing the defence counsel, Justice Khan observed that the counsel for the incarcerated couple should prepare first. "It is better for protecting your rights."