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ISLAMABAD: Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Judge Abual Hasanat Mohammad Zulqarnain on Monday extended the pre-arrest bail of Bushra Bibi, Omar Ayub Khan and several other PTI leaders in cases pertaining to the Nov 26 protest and demonstrations held outside the Supreme Court.
During the hearing, PTI leaders Sher Afzal Marwat and former Azad Jammu and Kashmir prime minister Abdul Qayyum Niazi appeared before the court, while exemption applications filed on behalf of Omar Ayub, Zartaj Gul and others were accepted.
The court observed that over 240 bail pleas of PTI leaders were pending and directed the parties to present arguments at the next hearing of the case on November 13. Cases against PTI leaders have been registered with Ramna, Sangjani, Tarnol and other police stations.
Meanwhile, ATC Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra conducted proceedings in connected cases, where he noted that the letter written by the PTI founder requesting a jail trial in the Nov 26 election rigging and Azadi March protest cases had not yet received a response from authorities concerned.
“If the state is serious about pursuing these cases, it should decide soon,” the judge remarked, adding that he would send a reminder on the matter. The court also distributed copies of the challan in the Kohsar police station case.
During proceedings, exemption applications were also filed by Omar Ayub and Ali Nawaz Awan. Referring to a viral video of Omar Ayub, Judge Sipra observed that “Omar Ayub is flying in the wind; he would have fallen ill in the courtroom”.
Defence counsel, however, clarified that the video was old and not recent.
Separately, the proceeding to indict KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur in the audio leak case pending before an additional district and sessions judge was postponed once again.
Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2025
Malik Asad is an Islamabad-based reporter for Dawn with two decades of experience covering legal affairs, judicial developments, and the civil bureaucracy. He can be found on X at @asadrp.
