Get the latest news and updates from Dawn
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned until Sept 17 the applications filed by rights activists Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, observing that either the court would decide the matter or the applicants would withdraw the case.
A two-member Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and comprising Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, took up the applications, which were filed through senior counsel Faisal Siddiqi on behalf of the applicants. They sought directives for an early hearing of their criminal appeal challenging the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) Feb 19, 2026, refusal to suspend their 17-year sentences in the controversial social media posts case.
The counsel contended that the Supreme Court had earlier directed the IHC to decide the appeals seeking suspension of sentence within two weeks, but the case had now suddenly been scheduled for Sept 8 in the high court.
“Whenever the Supreme Court commences hearing on the applicants’ applications, the high court fixes the matter,” the counsel said, expressing apprehension that the case might disappear from the system since the cause list had not yet been issued by the high court.
