KARACHI: A court docket has discharged tv and social media character Waqar Zaka in a case pertaining to an alleged Rs86 million cryptocurrency scam after permitting the Nationwide Cyber Crime Investigation Company (NCCIA) to withdraw its case from prosecution.
The NCCIA had filed a plea earlier than Judicial Justice of the Peace (East) Gulraiz Memon underneath Part 494 of the legal process code to withdraw from the prosecution in opposition to Mr Zaka.
The NCCIA submitted earlier than the court docket that the case was registered in opposition to the digital content material creator on allegations involving cryptocurrency actions, international remittances, and digital fraud.
Nevertheless, it added that after an intensive investigation and the submission of a closing cost sheet, the NCCIA discovered that the financial transactions have been performed by way of “common banking channels and no admissible digital forensic proof exists to help the fees” in opposition to the suspect.
State prosecutor Sheeraz Rajpar additionally submitted the approval letter issued by Further Director Muhammad Tariq Nawaz and argued that “additional prosecution can be a futile train, a waste of judicial time, and that there is no such thing as a probability of conviction even when the trial proceeds”.
After listening to the prosecutor and inspecting the applying, the court docket famous that as per data the grounds talked about within the plea lack incriminating proof. Nevertheless, it noticed that the prosecution request was made in good religion and within the curiosity of justice.
“Because the prosecution now not needs to pursue the fees attributable to a scarcity of proof, consent is hereby granted. The applying underneath Part 494 CrPC is allowed,” the order mentioned and added that Mr Zaka was discharged on this case, because the cost had not been framed.
Earlier, the NCCIA had submitted a cost sheet through which it said that the inquiry was initiated in opposition to Mr Zaka in 2022 for the offences punishable underneath the Pakistan Digital Crimes Act, 2016, Pakistan Penal Code, Anti-Cash Laundering Act 2020 and International Alternate Regulation Act 1947.
It added that the journey historical past confirmed that Mr Zaka was outdoors the nation.
Nevertheless, the investigating officer of the case, Arfa Saeed, said within the report through the investigation she discovered that funds for the crypto-associated course have been voluntary and no documentary proof, settlement, assure or false illustration may substantiate any dishonest intent on the outset, which was important for establishing dishonest, digital fraud, or forgery.
She added that digital forensic examination confirmed solely platforms offering cryptocurrency data, mining possibility, and subscription-primarily based advisory companies. “No hacking, knowledge manipulation, digital forgery, or technical fraud underneath PECA, 2016 was established,” the IO mentioned.
“In view the extended pendency of the case, the non-availability of the accused, and the prevailing nationwide circumstances, coupled with the present workload on investigation officers and constraints confronted by the prosecution, it’s pertinent to state that the proceedings within the current matter will not be more likely to attain any significant or tangible conclusion inside an inexpensive time,” the IO mentioned within the cost sheet.
She additionally knowledgeable the court docket that within the case no personal complainant or any aggrieved sufferer got here on file alleging that his or her authorized rights have been violate by Mr Zaka.
Subsequently, she knowledgeable that on this state of affairs steady prosecution wouldn’t serve helpful goal and suggested the prosecution to hunt withdrawal from the case.
Printed in Daybreak, July nineteenth, 2026
