Probe Finds PML-N MPA Saqib Chadhar Guilty of Harassing Actor Momina Iqbal

A National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency probe has found PML-N Member of Provincial Assembly Saqib Chadhar guilty of harassing television actor Momina Iqbal, an NCCIA official told a Lahore court, closing out a months-long investigation that began after Iqbal's public appeal went viral.

How the case became public

The case first drew attention in May, when Iqbal made a viral social media appeal detailing threatening calls, blackmail and harassment she said began after she refused a marriage proposal from Chadhar. That kind of public appeal, rather than a quiet legal filing, put immediate pressure on authorities to act, and both parties were summoned by the NCCIA on May 21, with the agency formally registering the case on June 4. Chadhar and his wife, who was also named in the case, secured pre-arrest bail the following day, June 5.

What the investigation concluded

Speaking before Judge Nusrat Ali Siddiqui, NCCIA SHO Najam Bajwa told the court on July 28 that the investigation had found Chadhar guilty of the harassment allegations. The charges against him span both Pakistan's Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, specifically sections covering unauthorized data access and cyber-stalking, and the Pakistan Penal Code, with additional sections covering criminal intimidation. That combination of cyber-crime and criminal intimidation charges reflects the nature of Iqbal's allegations, which centered on digital harassment and threats rather than a single in-person incident.

A case that reached the top of Punjab's government

The case did not stay confined to routine legal channels. Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz intervened directly, a level of political attention that is unusual for what might otherwise have been treated as a lower-profile harassment complaint. That intervention likely reflects both Iqbal's public profile as a television actor and the viral nature of her original social media appeal, factors that turned what could have been a slow-moving case into one with direct visibility at the top of the provincial government.

Where things stand now

The court has extended bail for Chadhar and his wife until September 3, pending final arguments in the case. That timeline means the NCCIA's guilty finding, while significant, is not the end of the legal process, the case still needs to move through final arguments and a formal court ruling before any consequences for Chadhar are determined. As a sitting PML-N MPA, any formal conviction would carry political weight well beyond the immediate legal outcome, given his party's position in Punjab's governing coalition.

Why this case resonates beyond the individuals involved

Cases involving harassment allegations against sitting political figures in Pakistan have historically faced an uneven record of follow-through, with many stalling well before reaching a formal guilty finding from an investigating agency. An NCCIA official stating plainly in open court that the investigation found Chadhar guilty represents a comparatively rare instance of an harassment complaint against a sitting legislator progressing this far through the formal investigative process, regardless of what the final September court ruling ultimately determines.

For Iqbal, whose original decision to go public rather than pursue a quiet complaint set the entire process in motion, the NCCIA's findings offer at least partial vindication ahead of the case's next and potentially final phase in court.

The case has also drawn attention to how Pakistan's newer cyber-crime legal framework, built specifically around electronic harassment and stalking, functions when the accused is a sitting elected official rather than a private citizen, a test of whether legal accountability applies as readily to lawmakers as it does to ordinary defendants.