Post-arrest bail plea of man in child pornographic content case dismissed by IHC.

ISLAMABAD -- The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday rejected a post-arrest bail application of a man charged with disseminating child pornographic content on social media.

The decision was announced by Justice Tariq Mehood Jahangiri.

The accused, Irfan Sarwar, had sought bail after his arrest under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca).

As per the First Information Report (FIR), Irfan Sarwar created/operated Facebook and WhatsApp groups for the sole purpose of uploading/sharing and disseminating child pornographic videos/pictures and was also found to be the administrator of a Facebook group.

Another report submitted to the court by the director general, Ministry of Human Rights, stated that the Facebook authorities reported that the WhatsApp and Facebook groups were used to publicly transmit, share and possess pornographic videos/photos of minors.

Accused operated social media groups for disseminating child pornographic videos and pictures

The counsel for the petitioner argued that his client was an illiterate person and had been implicated in the case. He said the offences did not fall under the prohibitory clause and the investigation had been completed and no recovery made from the petitioner. The petitioner is behind bars for the last two months and is no longer required by the police for investigation. Therefore, he is entitled to the grant of post-arrest bail, the counsel said.

However, a law officer of the state said sufficient evidence was available against the petitioner. According to a forensic report, it transpired that the petitioner had created the Facebook and WhatsApp groups for the sole purpose of uploading, sharing and disseminating child pornographic pictures.

The accused is found to be administrator of the Facebook group linked with a fake profile having the URL as mentioned in the FIR. The WhatsApp group was created on a mobile phone number registered in...