Court extends interim bail of PML-N MPA, wife in Momina Iqbal harassment case

WEB DESK: A sessions court has extended the interim pre-arrest bail of PML-N MPA Saqib Chadhar and his wife until July 28 in a case involving allegations of cyber harassment and intimidation of television actress Momina Iqbal.

During the hearing, Chadhar appeared before the court along with his legal counsel, while his wife did not attend the proceedings.

The investigating officer of the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) requested additional time to complete the investigation.

Accepting the request, Additional District and Sessions Judge Nusrat Ali Siddiqi extended the interim bail of both suspects until July 28 and directed the investigating officer to submit a progress report at the next hearing.

The NCCIA registered a case against the couple last month after actress Momina Iqbal lodged a complaint alleging cyber harassment and intimidation.

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The case was registered under Sections 3 (unauthorised access to information system or data), 4 (unauthorised copying or transmission of data), 21 (offences against the modesty of a natural person and minor), and 24 (cyber stalking) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA).

The FIR also includes Sections 506 (criminal intimidation), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence or giving false information), 34 (common intention), and 109 (abetment) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

According to the FIR, the actress alleged that Chadhar, his wife, and their “known and unknown associates” carried out a sustained campaign of cyber harassment, stalking, criminal intimidation, blackmail, defamation, unlawful surveillance, and threats against her and her family.

Momina Iqbal further alleged that after she declined Chadhar’s marriage proposal upon learning that he was already married, he retaliated by issuing repeated threats, attempting to access her private data, sending violent content, and allegedly blackmailing her with private videos.

The FIR states that the accused also allegedly damaged her social and professional reputation, disrupted her 2023 marriage proposal by spreading false information, and recently intensified threats to leak private material, harm her and her fiancé, and interfere with her upcoming marriage.