Bilal Ghauri granted bail in PECA case

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 17 September 2026 |  JP Staff Report

An Islamabad court granted post-arrest bail to journalist Bilal Ghauri, ordering release on a Rs100,000 surety bond if he is not wanted in another case. He faces FIR Case No.143/2026 under Sections 20 and 26-A of PECA over commentary on the NACTA appointment.

Summary

ISLAMABAD — An Islamabad court granted post-arrest bail to senior journalist, columnist and anchor Bilal Ghauri on Wednesday, ordering his release against a Rs100,000 surety bond if he was not required in another case. Senior Civil Judge and Judicial Magistrate Malik Aman announced the decision following a hearing on Ghauri's bail application.

Supreme Court lawyer Imran Shafiq represented Ghauri and argued that the case was motivated by malice and that its central allegations were unsupported by evidence. Ghauri's sister was also present in the courtroom, according to information shared with JournalismPakistan. The court approved the application after hearing arguments from the parties.

Bail order directs Ghauri's release

In his verbal order, Judge Aman said Ghauri should be released if he had not been arrested in any other case. Publicly available reports had confirmed the bail and his release.

The bail decision provides relief from detention but does not end the criminal proceedings. Ghauri faces Case No. 143/2026, registered by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency at its Cyber Crime Reporting Centre in Islamabad under Sections 20 and 26-A of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act. The allegations remain unproven, and the court has not ruled on the merits of the case.

Case stems from commentary on NACTA appointment

The case concerns commentary Ghauri published on September 5 about the appointment of Major General Faisal Naseer as national coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Authority. The FIR alleged that the content disseminated false or misleading information about the appointment process through digital platforms.

Ghauri and his defense have rejected the allegations. Shafiq maintained that the journalist had discussed an official government notification and NACTA's institutional performance rather than defaming an individual. The defense argued that investigators had failed to identify a specific statement in the program that could be proved false or fabricated.

JournalismPakistan first reported on September 6 that Ghauri's family had reported him missing after he disappeared from the ground-floor office of his Islamabad home. Authorities later confirmed that he was in NCCIA custody. The agency initially sought 10 days of physical remand, but the court granted three days, followed by a two-day extension. The court sent Ghauri to judicial custody on September 12.

In the bail application, the defense also argued that investigators had recovered his electronic devices, that the material at the center of the case was already publicly available, and that continued detention was unnecessary. These were defense submissions, not court findings.

The Committee to Protect Journalists had called for Ghauri's immediate release and withdrawal of the case, describing his detention over commentary on a public appointment as an attack on press freedom. The bail order ends his continued pretrial detention, but the PECA prosecution remains pending.

ATTRIBUTION: This update is based on September 16 courtroom reporting together with information provided to JournalismPakistan. Background is drawn from JournalismPakistan's earlier coverage, Dawn, and CPJ.

PHOTO: A screenshot from Bilal Ghauri's YouTube channel