Imran Riaz’s bail confirmed

A district court on Tuesday confirmed the pre-arrest bail of journalist Imran Riaz Khan after the investigation officer (IO) failed to produce substantial evidence to establish the case registered against him.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Cybercrime Wing had registered an FIR against Khan on charges of defaming, maligning and tarnishing the image of the police department, its officers, including the Punjab inspector general, and other officials of national institutions through tweets.

Read  Imran Riaz’s pre-arrest bail confirmed after IO fails to establish case

The applicant’s counsel Mian Ali Ashfaq argued that the complainant did not have any locus standi to file the complaint. Only an aggrieved person should have filed the case, he contended.

He said the video clip upon which the FIA had relied had never been collected. The counsel argued that the video of the IGP that had been uploaded from the social media account of Ayesha Ali Bhutta and subsequently tweeted by Imran Riaz had not been seized or collected by the FIA.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2023.