PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court on Tuesday granted protective bail to leader of opposition in National Assembly, Omar Ayub Khan, till Aug 8 for filing appeal before Lahore High Court against his recent conviction by an anti-terrorism court in Faisalabad.

A bench consisting of Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Farah Jamshed directed law enforcement agencies not to arrest Omar Ayub till then. The bench was hearing a petition filed by Mr Ayub to seek protective bail. The bench ordered that the protective bail should continue till Aug 8.

Advocate Alam Khan Adenzai appeared for the petitioner and said that Mr Ayub was convicted along with several other leaders and workers of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf by an ATC in Faisalabad and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.

He stated that the petitioner intended to approach Lahore High Court to challenge the conviction by filing an appeal there, but he apprehended that he would be arrested before reaching that court.

Says he will move LHC against conviction by Faisalabad ATC

He said that the petitioner was leader of opposition in National Assembly and was also member of Judicial Commission of Pakistan.

The additional attorney general, Sanullah Khan, said that the petitioner had been a convict and sentenced by a proper court of law.

Mr Ayub told the bench that around 67 cases had been registered against him in different cities including Faisalabad, Sargodha and Islamabad. He said that he had regularly been appearing in those cases before relevant courts. He said that he had remained MNA several times and had also served as federal minister.

Mr Ayub said that the ATC had convicted him in his absence, without providing him opportunity of being heard. He requested the bench to provide him some time so that he could approach the relevant high court to file appeal there.

Meanwhile, the bench extended interim relief granted to Mr Ayub till Aug 12, restraining Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) from initiating any action against him in connection with a notice issued to him over his alleged non-declaration of certain assets.

The petitioner’s counsel said that he had received a notice from ECP, requiring response regarding his assets declaration. He added while the petitioner had submitted a reply to the commission, it had still been continuing with the case.

He contended that ECP lacked jurisdiction to deal with the matter after the statutory 60-day period from the issuance of notification of the returned candidates in a general elections.

The ECP’s counsel argued that high court had earlier issued a stay order due to which ECP couldn’t continue with the matter. He stated that ECP had also filed an application, seeking vacation of the stay order. The bench decided to adjourn hearing to Aug 12.

BAILS: The bench granted protective bails to MNA Shandana Gulzar and two other PTI leaders Khadija Shah and Nadia Khattak for different dates.

The bench granted bails to Shanda Gulzar and Khadija Shah till Aug 19 and to Nadia Khattak till Aug 23, directing law enforcement agencies not to arrest them till then. The bench also directed the petitioners to approach relevant court by then.

Their lawyer said that as PTI had launched “Free Imran Khan” movement on Aug 5, therefore, federal and other provincial governments had been registering concocted cases against the party leaders including the petitioners.

About Khadija Shah, her counsel Alam Khan Adenzai stated that she had not been informed by federal and provincial governments regarding the cases pending against her.

When the bench inquired whether she was also a political worker, the counsel said that she had been working for the rights of imprisoned party workers.

The AAG stated that she was earlier also granted protective bail but she was not appearing before relevant courts. The petitioner’s counsel contradicted the AAG’s statement, saying the petitioner was regularly appearing before different courts.

The bench directed him to submit order sheets of all those courts, wherein she had been appearing, in future.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2025