Lahore, Jul 30 (PTI) A Pakistani court on Thursday granted a week’s protective bail to Noreen Niazi, sister of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, two days after the country’s anti-cybercrime body registered a case against her for allegedly “belittling the country’s armed forces” in her comments about last year’s four-day armed conflict with India.
“Lahore High Court (LHC) Justice Sardar Akbar Ali heard Ms Niazi’s petition seeking protective bail on Thursday and restrained the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) from arresting her during the bail period and directed her to approach the relevant court within one week for further legal relief,” a court official told PTI.
During the hearing, Niazi’s counsel told the court that the NCCIA had registered a case against her under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act and wanted to arrest her before obtaining interim bail from the competent court, and that the case was filed against his client on political grounds, the official said.
“Accepting Niazi’s plea, the LHC granted her protective bail and instructed her to appear before a relevant court within the stipulated time,” the official said.
The NCCIA registered a first information report (FIR) against Niazi on Tuesday. According to the FIR, Niazi levelled “false” allegations against Pakistan and its armed forces.
“Noreen Niazi attempted to undermine public confidence in the state and create panic among the people. She disseminated false, provocative, insulting and threatening content and conducted a systematic propaganda campaign against state and security institutions,” the FIR said.
On July 18, the agency issued her summons, accusing her of disseminating “false, offensive and inflammatory” content on social media to defame state institutions and spread “fake narratives”, and later questioned her at its Islamabad office.
In an interview widely circulated on social media earlier this month, Niazi claimed the India-Pakistan military confrontation in May 2025 was the result of collusion between Pakistan’s military leadership and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and was orchestrated to enhance the image of the armed forces.
Niazi, in the interview, sought to belittle the response of the Pakistani armed forces to India in the four-day armed conflict that was triggered by the Pahalgam terror attack.
She claimed, without providing evidence, that India refrained from escalating the conflict because Pakistan was moving towards recognising Israel and that the episode was aimed at facilitating Islamabad’s entry into the Abraham Accords.
Pakistan is among several countries that do not recognise Israel as a state and does not have diplomatic relations with it. The Abraham Accords are a series of agreements brokered by the US in 2020 which established diplomatic, economic and security ties between Israel and several Arab nations, including the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.
“What do you think? … India, which is a big country, was not in position to respond to Pakistan when it attacked on May 10?” Niazi said in the interview. “It could have but India deliberately refrained from giving a strong response because of some understanding.” PTI MZ ABD ABD
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.