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IHC Grants Pre-Arrest Bail to Imaan Mazari, Husband in Protest Case
Islamabad High Court grants pre-arrest bail to activist-lawyer Imaan Mazari and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha in a case linked to a BYC protest, restraining police from arrest.
ND
by News Desk
2026-01-21
IHC Grants Pre-Arrest Bail to Imaan Mazari, Husband in Protest Case

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday granted pre-arrest bail to activist and lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha in a case related to a protest organised by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC).

The case, which dates back to July, resurfaced a day earlier, prompting the couple to file pre-arrest bail applications on Tuesday. However, the pleas could not be taken up urgently, leaving Mazari and Chattha vulnerable to arrest.

Amid fears of detention, Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) President Syed Wajid Ali Gilani escorted the couple to his office within the high court premises and assured them of complete safety, stating that no arrest would take place from inside the bar’s office. The couple spent the night there as a heavy police presence remained stationed outside.

On Wednesday, Justice Muhammad Azam Khan heard the pre-arrest bail applications and approved bail for both petitioners against surety bonds of Rs10,000 each.

Advocate Kamran Murtaza, appearing on behalf of Mazari and Chattha, told the court that it was unprecedented in Pakistan’s judicial history for a woman to be forced to spend the night on court premises to avoid arrest.

“If there had been an old case, they would have arrested her first,” Murtaza argued, adding that the petitioners had been regularly appearing before courts in various cases since July.

Addressing the bench, he said: “You are the custodian of the high court. You must ensure that no one is taken away from here. We are not enemies of the country. As much as you have the right, I also have the right to be in this building.”

The defence counsel requested the court to grant protective bail and issue directions barring police from making arrests in any other case unless it was formally brought on record.

In response, Justice Khan remarked: “I am passing orders only to the extent of the FIR that is before me.”

The court subsequently granted protective bail and restrained police from arresting Mazari and Chattha in the said case.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) expressed grave concern over what it described as the “continued harassment” of the couple.

In a statement posted on X, the HRCP noted that Mazari and Chattha were facing “yet another allegedly fabricated FIR” filed immediately after the IHC reinstated their bail in an earlier case registered under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca), 2016.

“While they have been granted protective bail in this case as well, such a pattern of serial litigation appears designed to punish and intimidate individuals through legal harassment rather than to uphold due process,” the HRCP said.

The commission urged authorities to immediately halt the misuse of Peca laws, respect orders of the superior judiciary, and ensure citizens’ fundamental rights to liberty, fair trial, and freedom of expression.
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