LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court on Thursday granted post-arrest bail to 17 lawyers who were arrested for attacking the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC).

Judge Arshad Bhutta allowed bail to the lawyers after furnishing bonds of Rs100,000 each.

A defence counsel argued before the court that these lawyers had no role in the incident. He said police arrested them only to show their performance and please the government. He asked the court to release the petitioners on bail.

Earlier, the investigating officer presented the record of the case and said the petitioners were involved in the attack. He said 25 lawyers had been identified through the CCTV cameras.

A group of lawyers had attacked the PIC apparently to settle score with young doctors allegedly involved in manhandling some lawyers. They had damaged the hospital equipment and also torched a police vehicle.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2019