ATC dismisses pre-arrest bail of three PML-N men

LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court on Wednesday dismissed pre-arrest bails of two PML-N legislators and the local bodies chairman from Kasur, accused of abusing and staging an anti-judiciary rally in Kasur.

Previously, the court had granted pre-arrest bails to PML-N MNA Wasim Akhtar Sheikh and MPA Naeem Safdar by May 23. On Wednesday, the court refused to extend their bail after hearing arguments of the prosecution.

Interestingly, ATC Judge Javed Iqbal Warraich announced the verdict in the absence of the accused which is unprecedented in the pre-arrest bail matters. The court also turned down pleas of both the legislators to remove anti-terrorism sections from the FIR.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Abdul Rauf Wattoo told the court that the suspects had held a protest rally at the Kashmir Chowk, Kasur, against the judiciary and attempted to incite the public against the state institution. He requested the court to dismiss the pre arrest bails of the accused.

The Kasur police had booked 80 people after a video surfaced on the social media in April, showing PML-N legislators leading a rally in Kasur and hurling abuses at judges of the superior judiciary. The police booked them under sections 166, 506, 341, 228 109, 147 and 149 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and later inserted Section 7 of the ATA to the FIR.