The Supreme Court on Wednesday disposed of the petitions filed by human rights lawyer Imaan Mazari and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha in the security breach case. A three-member bench headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar heard the matter and declared the petitions infructuous. The court noted that the case no longer required intervention at the apex level because the couple had already been convicted by the trial court. It left the question of maintainability of their fresh appeals for the Islamabad High Court to decide.
This development came just days after Mazari and Chattha approached the IHC against their convictions. On October 29, the Rawalpindi Anti-Terrorism Court had sentenced both to ten years in prison and imposed a fine of Rs100,000 each under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997. The case was registered at Aabpara Police Station and related to allegations that the lawyer couple interfered in state affairs during the visit of an international cricket team in October 2024, thereby posing a security risk.
The couple has remained in custody since their arrest on January 23 this year. That arrest followed a protest outside the IHC. A day later a sessions court awarded them 17 years under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act for controversial social media posts. In September the Supreme Court suspended those sentences and granted them bail of Rs200,000 each. The relief lasted only a few hours. Islamabad police rearrested them the same day in connection with another case and produced them before an anti-terrorism court.
According to the FIR, Mazari and Chattha were accused of raising anti-government slogans and blocking roads during the protest. Their continued detention and successive convictions have kept the matter in the public eye. The latest Supreme Court order effectively closes the door on further proceedings in the apex court for the time being and shifts the focus back to the Islamabad High Court, where their appeals against the ATC conviction will now be examined.
