ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Thursday granted post-arrest bail to an accused facing charges of objectionable and inappropriate utterances against Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed and the judiciary.

IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah accepted the post-arrest bail petition of Masoodur Rehman Abbasi against Rs5,000 surety bonds.

A Supreme Court bench had in June this year taken notice of the matter after the Executive Committee of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) at its meeting demanded stern action against the false accusations made in the video clip and also called upon the federal government and law enforcement agencies to arrest Abbasi and put him behind bars so that he could be made an example for the public at large in such a manner that no one dared to repeat this vulgarism ever against judges.

He was booked under various sections of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) and the Pakistan Penal Code and subsequently taken into custody and put behind bars.

Masoodur Rehman Abbasi was a local leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party in Sindh. The SCBA condemned the inappropriate language used against CJP Gulzar.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2021