The Supreme Court has directed the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to give a ruling on the sentence suspension pleas filed by lawyer and rights activist Iman Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha.
A three-member bench, headed by Justice Shahid Waheed and comprising Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Shafi Siddiqui, heard the case on Tuesday and ruled that the matter would remain pending before the apex court until the high court’s ruling.
During the hearing, Faisal Siddiqi, who is representing Mazari, informed the court that the high court had only issued notices on the appeals against conviction and had not resumed hearings for more than two months. “Our clients have received no relief from the Islamabad High Court,” Siddiqi argued, adding that the court should order a decision on the sentence suspension pleas.
On 24 January, Mazari and Chattha were given 10-year prison sentences on accounts of cyber terrorism and spreading false information for their posts on X. They were arrested on January 23 and remain imprisoned in Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.
