LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court on Wednesday dismissed interim pre-arrest bail of PTI MNA Zain Qureshi in the Jinnah House attack case for his non-attendance while extending the bail of others.

ATC-I Judge Manzer Ali Gill also dismissed Mr Qureshi’s plea for one-time exemption from personal appearance.

A lawyer for the PTI leader told the court that his client was appearing in a case at the ATC in Faisalabad.

However, the judge questioned the validity of the claim, demanding evidence of the petitioner’s appearance before Faisalabad court, which the lawyer failed to provide.

However, the judge allowed a similar application filed on behalf of PTI Lahore Secretary General Awais Younas. His lawyer informed the court that he was in jail due to arrest in other cases.

The judge extended Younas’s bail till Dec 18.

The judge was informed that a joint investigation team (JIT) had declared PTI activists Muhammad Adil and Sabir Shah innocent during the investigation into the Jinnah House attack case.

At this, the two withdrew their bail applications, and the judge disposed of the pleas accordingly.

PTI activists, including Kamran Waheed, Muhammad Altaf, Usman Qadri, Riaz Ahmed, Shahid Khan, Syed Dabeer Hassan, Basharat Ali, and Shayan Saeed appeared before the court on expiry of their pre-arrest bail.

The judge extended their bail and directed them to cooperate with the investigation.

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2024