Asad Toor granted bail in anti-judiciary campaign case

IHC terms FIA's call-up notices to vlogger ‘illegal’

ISLAMABAD:

Special judge central Humayun Dilawar granted bail on Saturday to vlogger Asad Toor in a case related to running a malicious campaign against the judiciary.

Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) special prosecutor Ishtiaq Hussain Shah appeared before the court and informed that the agency had no objection to the vlogger being granted bail.

The bail was granted against surety bonds worth Rs5,000.

Separately, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) also declared the call-up notices issued to Toor by the FIA against the law.

Issuing a seven-page written order on the vlogger's plea against the FIA notices, IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq maintained that the FIR was lodged after the wrongful issuing of notices.

Read: SC castigates FIA for harassing journalists

The judge maintained that the relevant forum can be approached once the FIR is registered, adding that the court cannot order Toor's release due to the bar on taking suo motu action.

Toor had challenged the notices dated February 23 and 26 before his arrest. The IHC had reserved its decision on the case on March 7.

In January, the caretaker government had constituted a six-member high-powered joint investigation team (JIT) to inquire into the malicious campaign launched against judges of the top court after the CJP Isa-led bench announced the verdict on the PTI intra-party polls.

On February 24, Toor and anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan were summoned by the FIA's cyber crime wing.

The YouTuber was subsequently arrested on February 26 in connection with the case. As per the FIR, he allegedly ran a malicious campaign against the judiciary on social media platforms X and YouTube.

He fueled anti-state activities through social media and has been booked under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016, it added.