Peshawar High Court grants transit bail to Noreen Niazi in Peca case after July FIR.

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) granted Noreen Niazi transit bail on Monday. The order, issued by a single‑member bench headed by Justice Arshad Ali, came after a case was registered against her at the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) police station in Islamabad. The court required Niazi to provide bail bonds of 80,000 rupees and two sureties. It also ordered her to approach the Islamabad court that has jurisdiction over the matter on or before August 20. The PHC order will remain in effect only until that date. The case was filed on July 27 under provisions of the Peca Act 2016 and the Pakistan Penal Code. NCCIA accused Niazi of making derogatory and inflammatory remarks about state institutions in a podcast interview and in clips posted on X. Niazi’s lawyers argued that the allegations are false, that she was incorrectly implicated, and that the FIR contains no substantial evidence beyond the bare accusations. They also claimed the police had malicious intent. The court found the request for transit bail to be reasonable and therefore accepted it, granting her ad‑interim transit pre‑arrest bail. Niazi said she only learned of the case after arriving in Peshawar and denied the accusations that were made against her during the interview. She also cited earlier cases brought against her sisters. The Lahore High Court had previously granted her an interim protective bail, directing her to seek relief in an Islamabad court. These developments clarify the status of Niazi and set the timeline for the pending bail hearing in Islamabad.