Asad Toor | Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday restrained the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) from harassing vlogger and journalist Asad Toor during the course of its inquiry. The agency had issued a notice to Toor on July 29 for an inquiry into “alleged dissemination, transmission and/or public exhibition of false/fake information” by him. He was directed to appear before the NCCIA Cybercrime Reporting Centre in Islamabad at 11am on July 31. Toor had challenged the summons in the IHC the following day, arguing that the NCCIA had failed to fulfil the legal requirements while issuing the notice and had not provided details of the allegations against him. The court had subsequently directed the agency to provide Toor with details of the allegations against him; his counsel argued that the agency had not specified the accusations, making it impossible for him to respond to the inquiry. On Thursday, Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro heard the petition. During the proceedings, the petitioner’s...

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday directed the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) to provide vlogger and journalist Asad Toor with details of the allegations against him in connection with a summons issued by the agency. The agency had issued a notice to Toor on Wednesday for an inquiry into “alleged dissemination, transmission and/or public exhibition of false/fake information” by him. He was directed to appear before the NCCIA Cybercrime Reporting Centre in Islamabad at 11am on July 31. Toor challenged the summons in the IHC on Thursday, arguing that the NCCIA had failed to fulfil the legal requirements while issuing the notice and did not provide details of the allegations levelled against him. On Friday, Justice Mohammad Azam Khan took up Toor’s petition. Advocate Attaullah Kundi appeared before the court on behalf of the petitioner. During the hearing, the court asked the petitioner’s counsel, “Why don’t you appear before the NCCIA? Don’t you have a defence?” Kundi replie...