LAHORE – Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi was granted bail on Saturday in connection with the May 9, 2023 arson case, following a court hearing held at Kot Lakhpat Jail.
The decision was announced by Judge Manzar Ali Gul, who presided over the session inside the jail. The case is related to the Shadman police station arson incident, one of several registered after violent protests broke out across Pakistan in May 2023 following PTI chief Imran Khan’s arrest.
Qureshi’s legal team, comprising Rana Muddasir Umar and Barrister Taimoor Malik, had completed their arguments a day earlier before the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Lahore.
Qureshi had filed for bail several months ago, seeking relief in the same case in which former Punjab Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema was granted bail by the same judge earlier this month.
With the court’s decision, Qureshi is now one step closer to potential release, although it remains unclear how many other cases or charges are still pending against him.