Hadi Ali Chattha | Pakistan

The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday stayed trial proceedings against rights activist Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha in a case pertaining to controversial social media posts until their pending appeals were decided by the Islamabad High Court (IHC). The court issued the directives as a three-judge SC bench, headed by Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar and comprising Justice Salahuddin Panwhar and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, heard Imaan’s appeal seeking to set aside the IHC’s Dec 1 order refusing to grant interim relief by staying the trial in the case. Imaan and her husband Abdul Hadi Mohammad Ali — who are facing a trial under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 (Peca) — had moved an application in the SC requesting the urgent hearing of their appeal against the IHC’s refusal to grant interim relief. The petitioners have already filed a criminal revision before the IHC challenging the trial proceedings on grounds of due process violations under the CrPC, particularly the recor...