A compromise has been reached in the case relating to an alleged altercation outside the Islamabad High Court (IHC), with Islamabad High Court Bar Association President Syed Wajid Ali Shah Gillani submitting a statement and affidavit seeking closure of proceedings against rights activist and lawyer Imaan Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, on Thursday.
The case, registered following a reported scuffle outside the high court premises, had been taken up by the Anti-Terrorism Court in Islamabad.
In his written statement submitted before the court, Wajid Gilani stated that Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha were not his accused and that neither of them had engaged in any fight or altercation with him.
He appealed to the court and the police to close the case to the extent of the two lawyers, declaring that he no longer wished to pursue the matter against them. Gilani further stated that he had no objection if the court granted them bail or acquitted them in the case.
The development comes weeks after the Anti-Terrorism Court had dismissed the pre-arrest bail applications of Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha on January 22, 2026.
ATC Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra rejected their petitions due to non-prosecution, as neither of the applicants had appeared before the court at the time of the hearing.
On the same day, at the Islamabad High Court, both lawyers underwent biometric verification to file a fresh petition. They arrived at the court accompanied by senior lawyer Dr Babar Awan and Wajid Ali Gilani.
For two consecutive days, Mazari and Chattha remained present at the office of the Islamabad High Court Bar president, citing fears of arrest in undisclosed cases. During that period, a heavy contingent of Islamabad police was deployed outside the high court premises to arrest them.
In a separate case, on January 24, 2026, the District and Sessions Courts Islamabad sentenced Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha to 17 years’ imprisonment each in a controversial tweets case and ordered that they be sent to jail. The verdict sparked debate within legal and civil society circles over freedom of expression and due process.
Meanwhile, on February 14, 2026, Syed Wajid Ali Shah Gillani was re-elected president of the Islamabad High Court Bar Association in the annual bar elections. According to an official notification issued by the Election Board, he secured 770 votes, defeating his opponent Ashraf Gujjar, who received 761 votes.
