LAHORE - A sessions court on Tuesday reserved its verdict on two different petitions in a hate speech case against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Capt (retd) Muhammad Safdar.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Tajammul Shahzad Chaudhry, who heard the petition filed by Safdar for grant of bail and the plea filed by the prosecution for his physical remand in the case, observed to announce the decision on Wednesday.
During the proceedings, the defence counsel argued that his client had been arrested in a baseless case and pleaded he court to grant him bail.
He also opposed the prosecution's plea for physical remand of Capt (retd) Safdar, saying that no recovery had to be made in the case.
However, the prosecution opposed the bail petition, saying that all the charges were not bailable. The court was further requested for granting physical remand of the accused for investigations.
It is pertinent to mention here that Islampura Police had registered the case against Capt (retd) Muhammad Safdar on October 13 and he was arrested by the police late on October 21 night on his return to Lahore from Bhera.
According to the first information report (FIR), the suspect visited the sessions court in connection with a case against him on October 12, and got recorded a video statement, which had been released on social media.
The FIR states that the suspect instigated the masses against the government and urged them to join the protest and topple the government in the video.
Earlier, a judicial magistrate had turned down the request for physical remand of Capt (retd) Muhammad Safdar and sent him to jail on judicial remand.