Lahore High Court grants interim protective bail to Noreen Niazi in cybercrime case

Lahore, July 30, 2026: A Pakistani court on Thursday granted one week’s protective bail to Noreen Niazi, sister of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, two days after the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) registered a case against her for allegedly making remarks that “belittled the country's armed forces” over last year's four-day armed conflict with India.Lahore High Court Justice Sardar Akbar Ali heard Niazi’s petition and restrained the NCCIA from arresting her during the bail period. The court also directed her to approach the relevant court within one week to seek further legal relief.لاہور ہائیکورٹ نے عمران خان کی بہن نورین نیازی کی ایک ہفتے تک این سی سی آئی اے کے مقدمے میں حفاظتی ضمانت منظور کرلی عدالت نے ایک ہفتے تک متعلقہ عدالت سے رجوع کرنے کی ہدایت کردی pic.twitter.com/yMZ1P8dGA7— Arshad Ali (@ArshadAliUmar) July 30, 2026During the hearing, Niazi’s counsel argued that the case had been registered under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act and alleged that authorities intended to arrest her before she could obtain interim bail. The lawyer also claimed the case had been filed on political grounds.Accepting the plea, the court granted protective bail and instructed Niazi to appear before the competent court within the stipulated time.FIR Alleges Anti-State PropagandaThe NCCIA registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Niazi on Tuesday, accusing her of making “false” allegations against Pakistan and its armed forces.According to the FIR, “Noreen Niazi attempted to undermine public confidence in the state and create panic among the people. She disseminated false, provocative, insulting and threatening content and conducted a systematic propaganda campaign against state and security institutions.”Earlier, on July 18, the agency had summoned Niazi, accusing her of sharing “false, offensive and inflammatory” content on social media to defame state institutions and spread “fake narratives”. She later appeared before officials at the NCCIA office in Islamabad for questioning.Remarks On India-Pakistan ConflictIn an interview that was widely circulated on social media earlier this month, Niazi claimed the India-Pakistan military confrontation in May 2025 resulted from collusion between Pakistan's military leadership and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging it was orchestrated to improve the image of Pakistan's armed forces.She also sought to belittle Pakistan's military response during the four-day conflict triggered by the Pahalgam terror attack. Without providing evidence, she claimed India avoided escalating the conflict because Pakistan was moving towards recognising Israel and that the episode was intended to facilitate Islamabad's entry into the Abraham Accords.Pakistan does not recognise Israel and has no diplomatic relations with it. The Abraham Accords, brokered by the US in 2020, established diplomatic, economic and security ties between Israel and several Arab countries, including the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.Also Watch: ‘Free Imran Khan’: Greg Chappell Wears T-Shirt With Special Message; Extends Support To Ex-Pakistan PM Amid Jail Term “What do you think? ... India, which is a big country, was not in a position to respond to Pakistan when it attacked on May 10?” Niazi said in the interview. “It could have, but India deliberately refrained from giving a strong response because of some understanding.”To get details on exclusive and budget-friendly property deals in Mumbai & surrounding regions, do visit: https://budgetproperties.in/

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday granted interim protective bail to Noreen Niazi, the sister of incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan, in a case registered by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA). The NCCIA case alleges that Niazi made derogatory and inflammatory remarks against state institutions during a podcast interview and in subsequent clips shared on X. Earlier, Niazi appeared before the court along with her counsel, Barrister Shahryar Riaz. The counsel submitted that the petitioner was a permanent resident of Lahore, while the case had been registered in Islamabad. He said the petitioner feared arbitrary arrest before she could approach the relevant court in Islamabad. The barrister also argued that the allegations in the case were politically motivated and part of an attempt to harass her. The counsel requested that the court grant interim protective bail to the petitioner, allowing her to appear safely before the relevant court in Islamabad. After hearing the arguments, Justice Sardar Akbar Ali granted protective bail to Niazi for one week and directed her to appear before the relevant court before the next hearing. The first information report (FIR) was registered on Monday under Sections 20 (Offences against dignity of a natural person) and 26-A (Punishment for false and fake information) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) 2016, alongside sections 505 (Statement conducing to public mischief) and 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code. The FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn, alleged that Niazi and others had been involved in “preparing, publishing, propagating, glorifying, disseminating and promoting highly offensive, derogatory, inflammatory and intimidating content” on social media. It added that she had deliberately targeted security and state institutions with misleading and false allegations and targeted the reputation of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The NCCIA termed this a “deliberate campaign” to malign these institutions and spread false narratives, and accused Niazi of undermining the achievements of the armed forces in a podcast interview available online. “The accused has intentionally spread hated against the defence forces … with an intent to cause fear, panic and disorder” amid the public, the FIR stated. The NCCIA had earlier summoned Niazi to appear before it on July 20 over allegations of disseminating “false, offensive and inflammatory” content against state institutions. While the notice did not specify the content in relation to which Niazi has been summoned, it was issued after the clip of her making claims in relation to last year’s brief military conflict between Pakistan and India was widely shared on social media. In the clip, she is seen alleging during an interview that the conflict was “orchestrated” to improve the image of Pakistan’s military. She claimed the “drama” was played out in collaboration with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, questioning why Modi would have refrained from further attacking Pakistan otherwise. In this connection, she went on to allege that the objective was to get Israel recognised by Pakistan, linking US President Donald Trump’s praise of Pakistan’s leadership with Israel’s recognition as well.