An antiterrorism court (ATC) on Wednesday accepted the bail of journalist Nasarullah Khan Chaudhry who has been in police custody for allegedly possessing banned literature.

According to the Counter-terrorism Department (CTD), it arrested Chaudhry, a journalist associated with Urdu-language daily Nai Baat, in Karachi’s Garden area on Nov 11. The agency alleged that the journalist was carrying some journals and booklets about Afghan Jihad and the Punjabi Taliban which contained material intended to sow discord on sectarian grounds as well as to motivate people to take part in “Jihad”.

In today's hearing, the journalist's lawyer, Advocate Muhammad Farooq, argued that the CTD did not have any proof against his client.

The court ordered the journalist to submit Rs100,000 as a bail bond.

Chaudhry was first remanded into police custody on November 12.

The CTD booked the journalist under Section 11-F (i) of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997 (a person is guilty of an offence if he belongs, or professes to belong, to a proscribed organisation), Section 11-W(i) (printing, publishing or disseminating any material to incite hatred or giving projection to any person convicted for a terrorist act or any proscribed organisation or an organisation placed under observation or anyone concerned in terrorism) and Section 7.