PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court extended protective bails to Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Omer Ayub Khan and four other lawmakers of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf till April 8 and disposed of their pleas filed to get details of cases registered against them.

A bench consisting of Justice Sahibzada Asadullah and Justice Mian Abdul Fayyaz directed the petitioners to approach relevant courts by April 8 after which the present orders would become ineffective. The court directed that they should not be arrested in any of the cases registered against them so far till the allowed date.

The petitioners included Omer Ayub Khan, MNAs Shahram Khan Tarakai and Faisal Amin, Deputy Speaker of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Sureya Bibi and Provincial Minister Faisal Tarakai.

They had sought directives of court for federal government and law enforcement agencies functioning under it to provide details of cases wherein they had been charged.

Bench extends their protective bails till April 8

Advocates Alam Khan Adenzai, Rab Nawaz and others appeared for the petitioners and stated that it was their right to get information under Article 19-A of the Constitution about the cases registered against them.

They stated that several cases had been registered against the petitioners but government had not been providing relevant details to them. They said that the petitioners intended to approach relevant courts provided they were given details of cases.

Hashmat Jehangir, a senior prosecutor of National Accountability Bureau, informed the bench that the bureau had not registered any case against the petitioners.

Similarly, a deputy attorney general Danyal Khan said that Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had also not registered any case against them. However, he stated that Islamabad police had registered eight cases against Omer Ayub, three against Faisal Amin, whereas Sureya Bibi had also been charged in certain cases.

Omer Ayub informed the bench that around 70 cases were registered against him in Islamabad and other areas, therefore, he might be allowed more time for approaching relevant courts.

Meanwhile, the bench also granted protective bails to former National Assembly speaker and MNA Asad Qaiser till April 8 and to Provincial Minister Meena Khan Afridi till March 11.

The bench directed the respondents including federal government to provide details of the cases wherein they had been charged. The petitioners’ lawyers said that government had not been providing the relevant details to them.

The deputy attorney general requested that he might be given some time for submitting relevant reports.

During course of hearing, Mr Asad Qaiser informed the bench that every year he went for performing Umrah and had also been going for that purpose this year in the month of Ramazan. He requested the bench that his protective bail may be extended for much larger period so that he could perform Umrah.

TALKS: Omer Ayub has said that once their party comes to power, it would reverse the Constitution Twenty-sixth Amendment.

He dispelled the impression of any backdoor talks between his party and government, stating that across the country, especially in Punjab, the excesses of police were at its peak.

Talking to journalists on the premises of the high court, he said that government had again banned meetings of PTI founder Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi with their lawyers.

He said that there was no rule of law in the country. He said that they had been striving for release of their imprisoned party leaders and workers.

Mr Ayub claimed that by amending Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, government had been stifling the voice of free media and opposition parties. He once again emphasised on holding of trials of civilians by regular courts and not by military courts, adding that his party wanted holding of free and fair elections in the country.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2025