The Islamabad High Court on Friday reserved its verdict on applications filed by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), which argued that the sentence suspension requests submitted by human rights activist Imaan Mazari and her husband, Hadi Chattha, in the controversial tweets case were not maintainable.
During the hearing today, counsel for the NCCIA objected to the admissibility of the sentence suspension applications, arguing that they had been filed prematurely.
He told the court that such applications could not legally be submitted before six months had elapsed and requested that the agency’s miscellaneous application be heard first.
The NCCIA counsel argued before the court of Justice Azam Khan that if the opposing applications were considered before the agency’s plea, its own request would become ineffective.
Representing Imaan Mazari, advocate Faisal Siddiqi opposed the objection and said that if the agency wanted the sentence suspension applications to be dismissed, both matters should be heard together. He told the court that he was ready to present his arguments.
During the proceedings, Justice Azam asked whether either of the convicts had received any remission in their sentence. Counsel for the NCCIA replied that only prison authorities or the appellants’ lawyer could provide that information.
Justice Azam Khan observed that even the appellants’ counsel might not have the necessary information and suggested that the court could seek a report from the Superintendent of Adiala Jail.
Faisal Siddiqi opposed the proposal and urged the court to hear his arguments first. He maintained that his clients’ application had been filed under a legal provision different from the one cited by the NCCIA.
He further argued that a fresh miscellaneous application could not be filed merely to challenge another miscellaneous application, describing the agency’s request as legally untenable and highly absurd.
