PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court on Tuesday granted protective bails to several leaders and lawmakers of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf till Dec 24 and directed law enforcement agencies not to arrest them in the cases registered against them till now.

A bench comprising of Justice Sahibzada Asadullah and Justice Wiqar Ahmad directed the petitioners to approach relevant courts for getting relief in cases against them by Dec 24. The bench also directed federal government and its law enforcement agencies (LEAs) to provide details of cases registered against them.

The petitioners included Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, Deputy Speaker Suraya Bibi, MNAs Arbab Sher Ali, Shandana Gulzar, Fazal Mohammad Khan, Syed Ahad Ali Shah, Asif Khan, Yousaf Khan, Zubair Khan, Junaid Akbar, Saleemur Rehman, Sohail Sultan, Sajid Khan, Sahibzada Sibghatullah, MPAs Shafiullah Khan and Mahmood Shah and former MPA Arbab Jehandad Khan.

Advocates Alam Khan Adenzai and Ahad Shah appeared for most of the petitioners and stated that scores of fabricated cases were registered against their clients on political grounds. They stated that many cases were registered against the petitioners after the Nov 24 and onward protests buy PTI in Islamabad.

Bench directs them to approach relevant courts till Dec 24

They contended that the petitioners were not informed about the cases registered against them. They added that the petitioners wanted to approach relevant courts but they apprehended their arrest.

They argued that it was the constitutional right of petitioners to be informed about the cases wherein they were charged.

Meanwhile, granting protective bails to three MPAs from Punjab named Mohammad Ahmad Chatha, Asif Ali and Mohammad Ahsan Awan and a PTI leader Sanam Javed, the bench disposed of their respective petitions.

The bench directed them to approach relevant courts by Dec 24 in the cases against them. The bench also directed them to approach Lahore High Court for getting details of cases registered against them there.

Moreover, a single-member bench of PHC Chief Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim granted transit bails to MNAs Asad Qaiser and Bashir Khan till Dec 31 in some cases registered against them after the recent Islamabad protests of PTI. The bench directed them to approach relevant courts by that date otherwise the present order would become ineffective.

The petitioners’ counsel Alam Khan Adenzai stated that they were charged in multiple cases registered in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and other cities after the recent protests. He stated that the court had earlier granted transit bail to Mr Qaiser in seven of the cases, but now they came to know that he was charged in three more cases.

He requested the bench to grant them transit bails so that they could surrender before relevant courts.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2024