LHC grants post-arrest bail to Canadian scholar in cybercrime case

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday granted post-arrest bail to Canadian national and Pakistani PhD scholar Hamza Ahmad Khan in a cybercrime case registered under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) 2016.

Justice Muhammad Waheed Khan allowed the bail petition and ordered his release subject to the submission of surety bonds worth Rs200,000.

The case had been lodged by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) in late February. According to the case, Hamza was accused of posting anti-state content on social media platforms X and Instagram.

Before moving the high court, Hamza had sought post-arrest bail from a judicial magistrate and a sessions court, but both requests were rejected.

During the hearing at the LHC, Advocate Asad Jamal represented the petitioner and concluded his arguments in support of bail. The petition argued that the sequence of events surrounding the case created doubts about the legality and transparency of the investigation.

The defence maintained that the case was false and manufactured, alleging that it had been initiated with malicious intent to involve the petitioner in unjust and unfair legal proceedings. Counsel further argued that Hamza had not committed any offence under the law and that the case lacked merit.

The lawyer also told the court that bail should ordinarily be granted in such matters and that refusal was an exception, particularly where the prosecution did not have conclusive evidence to substantiate the allegations. He requested the court to release the petitioner on bail, arguing there was “no likelihood” that Hamza would tamper with evidence already collected by the prosecution.

Background of the case

According to the details cited in the report, Hamza arrived in Pakistan on February 13 to work on his PhD thesis. He had been staying with Rasheed in Phase 10 of Lahore’s Defence Housing Authority.

The complainant said Hamza left the house between 1am and 2am on February 19 after booking a ride to travel somewhere, and did not return. He said Hamza’s friends tried to locate him on their own but were unable to trace him.

Hamza later appeared in NCCIA custody on February 23. This came a day after a kidnapping case had been registered against unidentified suspects in connection with his alleged disappearance.

The high court’s order on Tuesday granted him post-arrest bail in the cybercrime case while the matter proceeds under the relevant legal process.