PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court on Thursday extended protective bails to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Mohammad Sohail Afridi and four other lawmakers affiliated with Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf for different durations with the directions to law enforcement agencies (LEAs) not to arrest them in any of the cases against them.
Different benches of the high court have sought reports from federal and provincial LEAs regarding details of cases wherein different petitioners have been charged including the chief minister, MNAs Mohammad Atif Khan and Shahid Khattak and senators Khurram Zeeshan and Mashal Azam.
A bench consisting of Justice Ijaz Anwar and Justice Naeem Anwar extended protective bail to the chief minister till Dec 17.
Advocate General Shah Faisal Uthmankhel and petitioner’s counsel Bashir Khan Wazir appeared before the bench, stating that reports from federal agencies were awaited.
Mr Wazir stated that his client was elected as an MPA and subsequently elected as chief minister of the province. He said that the petitioner apprehended that on political grounds cases might have been registered against him in Islamabad and other cities by LEAs about which he had not been provided any information.
He stated that under Article 19 of the Constitution, the petitioner was entitled to be provided information about the cases wherein he had been charged. He requested the court to issue directives to LEAs to provide details of cases against the petitioner so that he could approach relevant courts to get relief from there.
Similarly, a bench consisting of Justice Sahibzada Asadullah and Justice Dr Khurshid Iqbal heard pleas of Shahid Khattak, Atif Khan and Mashal Azam and extended their bails to different dates.
The assistant attorney general, Ishaq Khalil, and the additional advocate general appeared before the bench along with representatives of Federal Investigation Agency and National Accountability Bureau.
About Shahid Khattak, they said that he had been charged in nine cases registered in Islamabad. Similarly, about Atif Khan they said that report from FIA had been awaited. They said that FIA had informed them that there was no pending inquiry against Senator Mashal Azam.
Moreover, a bench of Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Wiqar Ahmad extended interim relief to Khurram Zeeshan and extended his protective bail.
Senator Zeeshan informed the court that he had to attend Senate session in Islamabad, but apprehended that he might be charged in any criminal case and arrested there. He requested the court to seek report from different LEAs about cases against him.
Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2025
