KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday dismissed for being non-maintainable an appeal filed by the provincial government against the acquittal of Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leader Dr Mahrang Baloch in a sedition case.
An antiterrorism court had acquitted the BYC leader in December 2025 for lack of evidence in a case pertaining to her alleged involvement in inciting people by levelling “allegations against security institutions” in Quaidabad in October 2024.
The state, through the Sindh prosecutor general, had challenged her acquittal before the SHC on the grounds that the trial court had misread evidence and allowed Dr Mahrang’s acquittal application at the pre-trial stage.
During the proceedings on Monday, a two-judge regular bench of the SHC headed by Justice Shamsuddin Abbasi asked that the FIR was lodged on the complaint of a private individual so how could the prosecution file an appeal instead of the complainant.
The bench dismissed the appeal for not being maintainable.
Earlier on Dec 3, 2025, the ATC-V had allowed Dr Mahrang’s acquittal application and observed that the complainant had lodged the FIR, but had not produced any independent witnesses to prove his allegations. It said five prosecution witnesses named in the charge sheet were police officials, who did not know the facts of the alleged incident.
Dr Mahrang is currently incarcerated in a prison in Quetta. In June, an ATC in Quetta had sentenced her to life imprisonment in a case involving the death of a security man during a 2024 protest in Gwadar.
Her appeal against conviction is pending before the Balochistan High Court.
Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2026
