Amir Khan granted bail in four media house attack cases

MQM-P leader denies his party has connections with London

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) granted bail to Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Amir Khan against Rs50,000 in each of the four media house attack cases.

Khan, senior deputy convener of the party, and MQM-P chief Dr Farooq Sattar have already obtained protective bail in several such cases from the Sindh High Court (SHC) after the court had directed the director general of the paramilitary Rangers in the province to ensure their arrests. 

On Thursday, Khan appeared before the ATC and got his bail confirmed in four cases. 

Sattar has obtained bail in 31 cases registered against him at different police stations over charges of listening to MQM founder Altaf Hussain’s controversial speech of August 22, 2016, as well as of acting as a facilitator of alleged outlaws involved in terrorist activities. 

The cases against Khan and other leaders of his party were registered at Sachal, Malir City and other police stations.

Talking to journalists after his court appearance, Khan said the court was the only institution providing justice to people. 

Commenting on the nature of cases, he said: “We believe in Pakistan and doing politics in Pakistan and will never support anyone who would speak against the country as we have no connection with London.” 

He said his party had not made any alliance with any party. However, he said, everyone was free to take part in politics for the betterment of Karachi and its people.

The applications of the two MQM-P leaders were heard by a two-member bench, headed by Justice Salahuddin Panhwar, and after granting bail, the bench had directed them to approach the trial courts for getting their bail confirmed and to seek interim bail.  Granting their requests for pre-arrest bail, the bench had asked both them to submit surety bonds worth Rs50,000 for each case pending against them. 

Qamar Mansoor Shahid Pasha, Khawaja Izhar-ul Hassan, Rauf Siddqiui, Kanwar Naveed and dozens of other leaders and hundreds of workers are facing media houses attack cases, violence and sedition charges. MQM founder Altaf Hussain had made provocative speech on August 22 last year in front of the Karachi Press Club that allegedly led to violence and anti-state slogans and attacks.

 

30-day jail term

A court convicted and awarded one month’s imprisonment to a woman, Shaista, who had tried to run away from the central prison on May 15.

Judicial Magistrate (East) Shoaib Elahi said the prisoner was already in detention in a theft case when she climbed the central prison’s wall facing PIB Colony. However, she was caught when she was trying to cross over the wires around the prison’s boundary. The court also imposed a fine of Rs200 on the convict.