A sessions court on Thursday dismissed the bail application of TV anchorperson Iqrarul Hassan in a case pertaining to the alleged dissemination of false, defamatory, and anti-state content on his social media accounts. Iqrar, through his lawyer, moved a second bail application before District and Sessions Judge (East) Arshad Murtaza after a judicial magistrate dismissed his earlier plea last week.
After hearing both the defence and prosecution sides, the judge ruled, "I do not find any merit in the present bail application and dismiss the same accordingly." "It is worth noting that the applicant's status as a journalist or political commentator does not confer any superior right to disseminate information beyond the limits prescribed by law," the judge observed.
"All citizens enjoy equal constitutional rights and are equally subject to the applicable laws, irrespective of their professional or social standing. The question is not whether the applicant is entitled to express his opinions, but whether the particular publications attributed to him, in their relevant context, attract the penal provisions invoked by the prosecution."
The court noted that the allegations against the applicant are clear and specific, adding that the complainant had assigned a definite role to the present accused. The investigating officer has recovered enough material to connect the present applicant with the commission of offences, it added.
The defence counsel contended that Iqrar was innocent and had been falsely implicated in this case on account of his journalistic activities. He said that the FIR did not reproduce any specific statement allegedly made by the applicant, nor did it disclose the essential ingredients of the offences with which he has been charged.
He added that the alleged glorification of a convicted person does not attract Section 9 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) unless the person concerned was convicted of a terrorism-related offence, whereas the prosecution has not alleged any such conviction. The counsel argued that Section 10 of Peca is not an independent offence and cannot be attracted unless the requisite predicate offence and criminal intent are established.
He submitted that the alleged electronic material had already been preserved and the digital devices had been taken into custody by the investigating agency; therefore, the continued detention of the applicant was not required for the purpose of investigation. According to the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), it launched an inquiry upon receipt of a source report on October 10 from a credible source to the effect that Iqrar, through his personal social media accounts on X, Instagram, and Facebook, was "intentionally disseminating false, fabricated, anti-state, and defamatory content with the object of instigating the general public against the state, its institutions, and its functionaries."