LAHORE: The anti-terrorism court on Wednesday expressed displeasure over the absence of PTI Secretary General Omar Ayub and former federal minister Asad Omar in the hearing of their interim pre-arrest bail petitions in cases of May 9 riots.

Judge Khalid Arshad heard the bail petitions of PTI’s current and former leaders including Omar Ayub, Asad Omar, Fawad Chaudhry, Azam Swati, Musarrat Jamshed, Hafiz Farhat Abbas and others.

All except Omar and Asad appeared before the court.

During the hearing, the investigating officer sought more time to present the case record, stating that written statements from Omar Ayub, Hafiz Farhat and others had not been collected yet due to duties related to Ashura last week.

The judge observed that a decision would be made on all bail petitions on the next hearing.

He said the court would cancel the bail for those suspects who had not recorded their statements to the police.

At this point, Omar Ayub’s lawyer expressed dissatisfaction over the judge, saying he would present arguments if the petitions were heard fairly.

He asked the judge to transfer the pleas, stating that respecting the court did not mean tolerating injustice.

Judge Arshad responded by saying that with Allah’s grace, “a decision would be made on the bail pleas of PTI leaders today.”

He remarked that the suspects were exploiting the situation and urged their lawyers to present their arguments, otherwise, a decision would be announced on merit.

The judge said the police had given him a USB with the videos of the occurrences, which he had watched, and noted that all the suspects had made speeches like leaders.

The lawyers for the suspects requested for more time to present their arguments.

The judge said the issue had been pending for a year and a half and ample opportunity had already been provided for the arguments. He urged all the lawyers to complete their arguments.

However, the judge adjourned the hearing till Aug 2, giving the lawyers time to prepare their arguments.

The judge also extended the bail of the suspects till the next hearing.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2024