Islamabad, January 30, 2026: An Islamabad court has ordered the removal of a controversial paragraph referring to “terrorist states” from the judgment that convicted lawyer Imaan Mazari and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha in a case related to contentious tweets last week.
In a written order, Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka stated that the paragraph was included due to a clerical mistake and was not supported by any statutory provision, judicial precedent, executive notification, international instrument, or authoritative reference. The judge observed that the sentence was vague and ambiguous and therefore warranted deletion.
The court noted that, according to the stenographer’s written explanation, the sentence—along with others—had been deleted during the correction process. However, it was mistakenly included at the time of final printing. The stenographer termed the error bona fide.
The deleted text, which appeared as paragraph 36 on page 18 of the judgment, had stated that four countries were currently designated as terrorist states.
A day earlier, during the weekly press briefing, Foreign Office Spokesperson Tahir Andrabi distanced Pakistan from the statement attributed to the court.
“We have seen the judgment. These are views of the learned judge. Pakistan, of course, does not subscribe to this opinion,” he said, adding that “this kind of designation of terrorist states does not exist either in the UN parlance or under international law.”
The court’s order has effectively addressed the controversy surrounding the paragraph, clarifying that its inclusion was unintentional and without legal basis.
