Daily Times

Islamabad High Court (IHC) Thursday granted protective bails to former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser and ex-federal minister Hammad Azhar till June 20, reports The Peshawar High Court (PHC) Thursday granted ousted prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan transitory, protective bail for three weeks in cases registered against him by the federal government in light of the Azadi March.

Giving Imran pre-arrest bail, the court told Imran that he was being granted three weeks bail against a surety bond of Rs50,000 and he could always approach the court in case of any problem.

In the petition, Imran’s lawyer Babar Awan said there were 14 FIRs registered against his client accusing him of inciting violence. Chief Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan also instructed Imran not to talk on the premises of the high court, says a news report.

On May 27, Islamabad police filed separate cases against 150 people including PTI Chairman Imran Khan and party leaders Asad Umar, Asad Qaiser among others over allegations of arson and vandalism in the federal capital during the long march on May 25.

The footage of the Safe City cameras as well as those from private TV news channels was included in the challans as evidence.

Two FIRs were registered at Kohsar police station on the complaint of Sub-Inspector Asif Raza and Sub-Inspector Ghulam Sarwar under Sections 109 (abetment), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 186 (obstructing public service), 188 (disobedience), 353 (assault on public servant), 427 (causing damage) and 435 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to cause damage) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

In the other FIR, SI Sarwar stated that he and other police officers were on duty at Express Chowk when at 12:30am, around 100-150 PTI protesters, equipped with rods and inflammatory material, chanted slogans, incited people and set fire to the trees and Metro Bus station.

The FIR filed on SI Sarwar’s complaint named the PTI chief as well as Asad Umar, Imran Ismail, Raja Khurram Nawaz, Ali Amin Gandapur, Ali Nawaz Awan and other party leaders.

Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Thursday granted protective bails to former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser and ex-federal minister Hammad Azhar till June 20, reports APP.

Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard the separate petitions filed by the PTI leaders. Asad Qaiser and Hammad Azhar, in their pleas, stated that they participated in the long march on the call of their party chief and cases had been registered against them in different cities.

Asad Qaiser named secretary interior, inspector general of police (IGP) Islamabad, IGP Sindh, IGP Punjab, IGP Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and director general of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) as respondents, while Hammad Azhar named the federal government, IGP Punjab and SSP Operations Lahore as respondents.

The court also sought report from the federation regarding the cases registered against Asad Qaiser across the country.