Iqrarul Hassan jailed after court rejects further NCCIA custody

A Karachi judicial magistrate sent television anchor and political figure Iqrarul Hassan to prison on an eight-day judicial remand in a cybercrime case concerning content posted on his social-media accounts. Hassan will remain in judicial custody until October 26 after the court rejected a request by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency for another eight days of physical remand.

Hassan was presented before Judicial Magistrate-I East Gulraiz Memon after completing six days in the agency’s physical custody. The magistrate ruled that investigators had already received sufficient custodial time and had not provided a convincing justification for keeping him in physical custody for a further period. The court also recorded that Hassan did not complain of mistreatment while in custody.

The investigating agency submitted its request under Section 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. It maintained that several important aspects of the investigation remained incomplete because forensic examination of Hassan’s seized digital devices and information requested from other government departments had yet to be fully assessed.

The case relates to a video posted on Hassan’s accounts on X, Instagram and Facebook on October 10. Investigators allege that the material contained false, defamatory and anti-state claims intended to provoke the public against state institutions and officials. These assertions form part of the prosecution’s case and have not been established through a trial.

Hassan has been booked under several provisions of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, including sections dealing with glorification of an offence, cyberterrorism, cyberstalking and the dissemination of false information. He was initially placed in four-day physical custody before a court granted investigators an additional two days and ordered them to produce him again with a progress report.

During earlier proceedings, Hassan’s defence challenged both the substance of the allegations and the procedure followed by investigators. His counsel argued that the disputed video did not constitute an offence under the cybercrime law and questioned the absence of an individual complainant, the reported source-based initiation of the case and aspects of his arrest and seizure documentation.

The transfer from physical to judicial remand means Hassan is no longer being held directly by investigators for questioning and will instead remain in prison under the court’s authority. The order does not determine whether the allegations are true or amount to a conviction; prosecutors must still support the charges through admissible digital, documentary and witness evidence.

The next stage is expected to involve completion of the forensic review, examination of the records obtained by investigators and further proceedings before the court. Hassan is due to remain in judicial custody until October 26, when the authorities will have to follow the court’s directions regarding his production and the progress of the case.