Shireen Mazari moves IHC seeking right to meet daughter, son-in-law in Adiala Jail

Former federal minister Shireen Mazari filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court on Tuesday to seek her legal right to meet her daughter, Iman Mazari, and son-in-law, Hadi Ali Chatha, who are currently being held in Adiala Jail.

Iman Mazari and Chatha were found guilty on January 24 in Islamabad in a case related to posts and reposts on X that the police called “anti-state.”

The case was registered in August 2025 by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016, claiming that the content was intended to bring down state institutions and was in support of banned organizations or individuals.

The guilty verdicts have been widely criticized by the legal fraternity, politicians, and civil society.

Mazari told the court that she had completed the biometric process required for the filing of the petition and had visited Adiala Jail yesterday to meet her family. “We were not allowed to meet them despite it being the scheduled day,” Mazari said.

The relief sought in the petition, according to her, was the enforcement of her right to meet them under jail laws. “I am a mother. I want to meet my daughter and my son-in-law, but you are preventing me,” she told the court.

Mazari said that the petition also refers to the domestic law of Pakistan as well as its obligations under international human rights instruments. “Article 1 defines mental and physical abuse, which is being violated,” she said.

“Not only international laws, but even our own laws are being disregarded,” she added.

Mazari said that the standing of Pakistan in international law has always been good. “When we talk to India regarding the Indus Water Treaty, we demand that they comply. We have always honored our international obligations right from the start,” she said.