Daily Times

Shahbaz Gill, the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was granted bail on Thursday by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the sedition case in exchange for submitting surety bonds totaling Rs500,000.

IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard the case, and Shahbaz Gill’s attorney Salman Safdar read the first information report (FIR) against the PTI leader in front of the court.

“The political nature of the sedition case against Shahbaz Gill. It is illegal and ill-intentioned. Gill served as the prime minister’s special assistant during the PTI administration, and when the PTI was overthrown, he became Imran Khan’s chief of staff, the attorney stated in court.

“Did Shahbaz Gill say all those things?” the IHC chief justice questioned the lawyer about Gill’s seditious remarks.

“Can these things be justified? Can these words of the spokesperson for a political party be justified? Should political parties drag the armed forces into politics? It is not just a speech,” the IHC chief justice remarked.

“Part of Shahbaz Gill’s speech was taken out of context. Nowhere did he try to ridicule the army. His entire conversation was related to the strategic media cell,” Salman Safdar adopted before the court.

“Look at this speech, [and see] to what extent the political parties have spread hatred in society. This conversation shows how far hatred has been spread,” the IHC chief justice remarked.

“No one else has the authority to file a case on behalf of the armed forces. The sedition provisions have also been added to the case against Shahbaz Gill,” Salman Safdar said.

“The trial court dismissed the case of the prosecution. Shahbaz Gill’s remand was made very controversial. The sedition provisions also made the case controversial,” he added.

“The trial court held that 12 of the 13 provisions are not applied to Shahbaz Gill,” the counsel of Shahbaz Gill told the court.

“At least they spared one provision,” IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah remarked.

Prior to this, barricades and barbed wire had barred every path leading to the IHC. Outside of the court, police and FC men were also there.