LAHORE – A judicial magistrate on Friday granted the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) a four-day physical remand of Islamabad-based digital media journalist Sohrab Barkat in a case of spreading misinformation about state institutions.
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The NCCIA produced the journalist before the magistrate at district courts and requested a 30-day remand, stating that his physical custody was required to recover social media accounts and complete the investigation.
The journalist’s counsel opposed the remand, claiming that Barkat was illegally offloaded and arrested at Islamabad airport while traveling to attend a United Nations conference. He argued that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had earlier told a court in Islamabad that no case was registered against Barkat, but he was subsequently booked in the cybercrime case.
Who will believe FIA or the State of Pakistan after this incident? FIA submitted written statement in IHC that journalist Sohrab Barkat is not required in any case. Court allowed him to travel for a @UN conference but journalist was arrested by the same FIA on Islamabad Air port? pic.twitter.com/ZhWgix93i4
— Hamid Mir حامد میر (@HamidMirPAK) November 29, 2025
The counsel further contended that there was a 24-hour delay in producing Barkat before the court and that the alleged derogatory remarks were made by PTI activist Sanam Javed, a guest on the journalist’s program, rather than by Barkat himself.
In his order, Magistrate Naeem Wattoo noted that Barkat is named in the FIR registered on August 5 and that an inquiry had been decided against him. The magistrate also highlighted that the journalist had been declared a proclaimed offender after arrest warrants were issued. “Therefore, it cannot be said that this case was registered for justifying his arrest on alleged offloading,” the magistrate ruled.
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The magistrate approved a four-day physical remand and directed the NCCIA to produce Barkat again on December 2 for further proceedings.