ISLAMABAD: A local court on Tuesday granted post-arrest bail to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Ali Amin Gandapur.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Sikandar Khan granted the bail against Rs300,000 surety bonds.

Mr Gandapur, a former federal minister, was arrested last week from outside the building of Peshawar High Court’s Dera Ismail Khan bench.

The FIR registered against Mr Gandapur at the Golra police station stated that in an audio leak he could purportedly be heard using derogatory language against the federal coalition and hurling threats on government officials besides inciting the public against the government.

The investigation officers informed the judge that the accused had submitted his statement before the court.

On Monday, Mr Gandapur’s counsel Sher Afazl Khan argued that the police had referred to a recorded conversation between his client and another person in which the former was allegedly hurling threats and inciting people to violence.

The counsel however said the identity of the person with whom his client was talking was never made public.

He argued that Mr Gandapur never delivered such a speech in any public gathering. His statement was broadcast in a television channel but the media outfit was not implicated as an accused in the FIR.

He claimed that Mr Gandapur never incited any group against the state nor did he provoke people against the government.

He asserted that the magistrate was not authorised to lodged the complaint against PTI leader for mutiny as it was the prerogative of the state to get such a case registered.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2023