LHC registrar objects to plea against bail in PIC case

LAHORE:The Lahore High Court registrar office has put an objection to a Punjab government petition seeking cancellation of pre-arrest bail granted to Advocate Hassaan Niazi, nephew of Prime Minister Imran Khan, and seven other lawyers by trial court in the PIC attack case.

The office did not approve the petition for hearing before the court for shortcomings in mandatory documents. An official said FIRs and other documents attached with the appeal were not duly attested.

The government had on Saturday filed the petition through prosecutor general of the province. The petition argued that the accused were involved in attacking the PIC, torched a police van and also attacked policemen. It said during the incident death of some of the patients in the hospital occurred due to removal of their oxygen masks by the accused persons.

It said the accused were involved in grievous damage to the hospital’s property as well as expensive medical equipment. The petition argued that the trial court while granting bail to the accused was bound to see tentative assessment but it deeply appreciated the facts and evidence, which prejudiced the case of the prosecution. It said the accused were desperate and not entitled to lenient view as taken by the trial court while granting bail to them. The government asked the LHC to set aside the bail granting order of the trial court for being against the law and facts of the case.

Shadman police had lodged two FIRs against more than 250 lawyers after they stormed the PIC, damaged public property and manhandled government employees.