ISLAMABAD: A local court has cancelled the arrest warrants for former National Assembly speaker and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Asad Qaiser after he appeared before it in a case related to a Nov 26 protest, while an anti-terrorism court (ATC) has granted him interim bail in a separate case involving the party’s Sangjani protest.

Judicial Magistrate Muhammad Azhar Nadeem cancelled the arrest warrants during a hearing on Fridayafter Mr Qaiser appeared before the court along with his counsel, Ayesha Khalid. The warrants had previously been issued due to his failure to appear before the court.

The trial in the protest case is pending before the judicial magistrate.

Meanwhile, ATC Judge Abual Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain granted interim bail to Mr Qaiser in the Sangjani protest case and restrained the police from arresting him.

During the proceedings, the court accepted his application for interim bail, issued notices to the relevant parties seeking their responses and adjourned the hearing until Nov 7.

The court had previously cancelled his bail due to his non-appearance.

In a separate case against PTI workers relating to the party’s November 26 protest, ATC Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra adjourned the proceedings until Nov 4 because all the accused were not present.

The court could not record the statements of the accused under Section 342 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which allows them to respond to the evidence presented against them. The case was registered at the Secretariat police station.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2026