*PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Monday granted bail to bannedTehreek-e-Nifaz Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) chief Sufi Mohammad on bail. *
Sufi Muhammad was arrested on June 3, 2009 by Pakistan army during militaryoperation “Operation Black Thunderstorm in Swat against the Taliban.
He was arrested along with his aides Mohammad Alam, and his spokesperson,Ameer Izzat Khan for inciting violence and committing terrorism.
The cleric had been charged with sedition, aiding terrorism and conspiracy.
His arrest came weeks following a peace deal between the then PPPgovernment and TNSM. Under the deal, President Asif Ali Zardari had signedthe Nizam-e-Adl Regulation law for Swat, paving way for the implementationof Sharia law in the Malakand region on April 19, 2009.
Six days after the signing of the law, Sufi Muhammad told a gathering ofsupporters that “democracy was un-Islamic” and that decisions made in theqazi courts could not be appealed in Pakistan’s judicial system.
He had demanded the central government withdraw all judges from Malakandwithin four days and set up a Darul Qaza, an Islamic supreme court, to hearappeals from local Sharia courts.
Sufi Muhammad is the father-in-law of Mullah Fazlullah, chief of the thebanned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).