Court grants bail to PPP leaders

PESHAWAR: A local court on Tuesday granted bail before arrest to the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) provincial president Syed Muhammad Ali Shah Bacha, former provincial minister Ziaullah Afridi and Shah Zulqarnain in a case registered against them for staging a protest at Assembly Chowk and allegedly setting fire to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) camp.

Petitioners’ lawyers Gohar Rehman Khattak, Lajbar Khan, and Shakeel Ahmad Gilani informed the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Asmatullah Wazir that their clients were political workers.

They pleaded that Syed Muhammad Ali Shah Bacha was the provincial president of the PPP and was leading a peaceful protest rally on the day. However, during the protest, on the instructions of the provincial government, police used baton charges against party workers.

They maintained that Ziaullah Afridi was a former provincial minister and PPP office-bearers and Shah Zulqarnain was also a political worker.They argued that every citizen had the right to organise peaceful protest, but this protest was disrupted by unjustified police action, including using baton-charge and teargas, which caused many members and workers to be hospitalised.

They later learned that a case had been registered against them at Cantt Police Station East.The lawyers contended that their clients were respectable citizens affiliated with a political party, and therefore, their pre-arrest bail should be granted.After arguments, the court granted the interim pre-arrest bail to all three petitioners and summoned the case record.