PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday, through separate benches, approved transit and protective bail requests for several Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders, including former president Dr Arif Alvi and directed them to appear before the relevant courts.
A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Wiqar Ahmad heard the bail petitions of PTI leaders Asad Qaiser, Shahryar Afridi, Faisal Tarakai, and others.
Advocate Alam Khan, representing the petitioners, informed the court that cases were registered against the leaders after the November 24 protests. He argued that while the petitioners wanted to appear before the courts, they faced a risk of being arrested.
The PTI leaders, who were granted bail, included the Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub, Asad Qaiser, Hassan Rauf, Shahryar Afridi, Shahram Tarakai, Sohail Afridi, Faisal Tarakai, Dawar Kundi, Aftab Alam, Sher Ali Arbab, Shandana Gulzar, Zahir Shah Toru, Fazal Mehmood, Junaid Akbar and Iqbal Afridi.
The deputy attorney general maintained that the Islamabad High Court had dismissed a similar petition.
To this, chief justice said that the petitioners in the current case belonged to the province, unlike the previous instances.
The counsel for the petitioners also raised concerns about repeated charges and new FIRs that were being filed daily.
In a separate hearing, Justice Ijaz Anwar granted Opposition Leader Omar Ayub transit bail and approved Asad Qaiser’s bail until January 30.
Former president Arif Alvi’s son, Awab Alvi, was also granted bail with instructions to appear in the relevant courts within one month.
During the proceedings, Justice Ijaz Anwar questioned former president Alvi about seeking bail in Peshawar despite being based in Karachi.
Alvi responded, “I have come here for bail, though it feels like I am being treated as a terrorist. In 2014, I was accused of supplying arms, and now more terrorism cases have been filed against me.”
The court extended Arif Alvi’s transit bail until February 11 and approved Rauf Hassan’s bail until February 6.
Another bench, comprising Justice Arshad Ali and Justice Fazal Subhan, granted the former president 40 days of protective bail. The court directed all petitioners to appear before the relevant courts within the specified timelines.