PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court on Tuesday granted transit bail to rights activist couple Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha till Oct 9 in a recent case registered after a clash between two groups of lawyers in Islamabad.

A bench consisting of PHC Chief Justice Syed Mohammad Attique Shah directed both the petitioners to approach the relevant court by the said date. The bench directed law enforcement agencies not to arrest Ms Mazari and Mr Chattha till then.

Advocates Attaullah Kundi, Tariq Afghan, Jehanzeb Mehsud and others appeared for both the petitioners, whereas federal government was represented by the additional attorney general, Sanaullah.

The petitioners’ lawyers contended that both Ms Mazari and Mr Chattha were prominent rights activists and they were representing the oppressed people of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa before different courts and forums.

They stated that recently a case was registered in Islamabad under different provisions of Pakistan Penal Code and Anti-Terrorism Act, wherein the petitioners along with several other lawyers were charged.

It is pertinent to mention that police registered the case on Friday last against the petitioners and several other lawyers associated with Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf including Naeem Haider Panjhuta after the president of Islamabad High Court Bar Association alleged that the bar leadership was ‘assaulted’ by the suspects, who also raised slogans against state institution.

The petitioners and other lawyers had staged a protest demonstration on the premises of IHC to oppose the suspension of Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri from judicial work.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2025