LHC grants bail in fake video case

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday granted post-arrest bail to Ali Hassan Toor, a suspect accused of uploading a fake video of Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari on social media.

Chief Justice Aalia Neelum, who had earlier reserved the verdict on April 28, announced the decision in open court, allowing bail upon the furnishing of a Rs1 million surety bond.

During the hearing, the counsel for Minister Bokhari strongly opposed the bail plea, arguing that the accused was not entitled to relief due to the gravity of the offense. He claimed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had already found the suspect guilty in its initial findings.

The FIA's legal representative informed the court that the suspect had shared a manipulated video accompanied by misleading commentary, constituting a cybercrime offense. However, Chief Justice Neelum expressed concern over the FIA's delay in submitting a forensic report and questioned the agency's investigation.

"To what extent has the investigating officer assigned responsibility to the suspect based on the fake videos?" she asked the FIA official, who responded that the charge sheet had already been submitted to the trial court.

Ali Hassan Toor's lawyer, Advocate Azhar Siddique, argued that the video in question had not been uploaded from his client's social media account. "There is no evidence of the accused sharing any fake video," he maintained.