In Lahore, the Lahore High Court (LHC) delivered its verdict on Wednesdayconcerning the post-arrest bail petitions filed by 97 PakistanTehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) workers. These petitions were related to theincidents of vandalism on May 9 and the attack on Jinnah House. Among thepetitioners were notable figures such as fashion designer Khadija Shah,Aalia Hamza, and Sanam Javed.
The court, through a concise order, decided to remand the bail petitions tothe trial court, with the assurance that detailed reasons would be providedin a subsequent judgment. The court made a noteworthy observation that, dueto the inclusion of new charges in these cases, the accused individualsshould approach the trial court for bail once investigations regardingthese new offenses are completed. The division bench responsible forhearing these post-arrest bail petitions of PTI workers was presided overby Justice Aalia Neelum.
Special Prosecutor Farhad Ali Shah, earlier in the proceedings, stronglyopposed the bail petitions presented on behalf of the PTI workers. Hepointed out that new charges had been added to the cases, andinvestigations against the accused were still in progress. He furtheremphasized that some of the accused were currently on remand and suggestedthat the petitioners should again seek relief from the trial court once theinvestigative process was concluded.
Read Top Stories
The PTI workers had approached the court seeking bail, arguing that theywere already on judicial remand, and their continued custody was no longernecessary for the ongoing investigations. Notably, the police hadintroduced new charges in all the cases related to the events of May 9,which included offenses under sections 121 (related to waging or attemptingto wage war against Pakistan), 131 (pertaining to abetting mutiny orattempting to seduce military personnel from their duties), and 146(related to rioting).
