ATC defers pronouncement of verdict on Ali Wazir’s bail plea

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Karachi deferred on Thursday the pronouncement of its verdict on an application of Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) leader and MNA Ali Wazir seeking post-arrest bail in a sedition case.

Wazir has been nominated in four cases lodged at various police stations in the port city for allegedly delivering speeches against state institutions and sedition. He has been behind the bars since December 31, 2020.

The ATC-II judge was supposed to announce on June 23 the order he had reserved on the bail plea of the legislator after both the prosecution and defence sides had concluded their arguments. As the matter came up on Thursday, he postponed the pronouncement of the judgment until June 28.

The case against Wazir in question pertains to organising a rally in Sohrab Goth where he along with other PTM leaders allegedly chanted slogans and made speeches to incite the public and defame state institutions.

The MNA has already been granted bail in two cases. On November 30 last year, the Supreme Court had granted him post-arrest bail against a surety of Rs400,000 in one case. Later, the Sindh High Court (SHC) approved his bail in another case.

The cases have been registered against him at the Sohrab Goth, Shah Latif Town and Boat Basin police stations under 147 (rioting), 149 (Every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 500 (punishment for defamation), 505 (statement conducing to public mischief) and other sections of the Pakistan Penal Code PPC read with the Section 7 (Punishment for acts of terrorism) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

On account of bad health, Wazir was admitted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre on Tuesday. However, he said his life was in danger at the hospital as he was attacked there. He demanded that he be shifted to the Central Jail Karachi again or to Islamabad to attend the budget session in the National Assembly.