Court grants NCCIA three-day remand of journalist Bilal Ghauri in PECA case

A court in Islamabad on Monday handed the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) a three-day physical remand of journalist Bilal Ghauri in a case registered under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca).

Ghauri was produced before judicial magistrate Malik Aman after the agency requested 10 days of physical custody. The court, however, approved a three-day remand.

The case was registered on September 6 under Sections 20 and 26-A of Peca, which deal with offences against the dignity of a person and the dissemination of false and fake information.

The FIR, registered on behalf of the state, accuses Ghauri of posting and circulating content on September 5 about the appointment of the national coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta).

According to the FIR, an inquiry by the agency concluded that the journalist had deliberately created and shared what it described as false narratives on social media.

The investigation allegedly found that the material contained claims about the process and circumstances surrounding the Nacta appointment that were “false, misleading and presented without any lawful, factual or independently verifiable basis”.

Ghauri’s lawyer, Advocate Imran Shafiq, opposed the request for a 10-day remand. He argued that the journalist had been arrested without receiving any prior notice from the agency.