Drama on the court steps: SC sends ambulance to pick up petitioner feigning illness

Maulana Shakir is accused of hate speech and attacking a police team.

LAHORE: Police arrested a prayer leader on Tuesday after the Supreme Court dismissed his request for pre-arrest bail. He is accused of hate speech and inciting his followers to attack a police team in Shahdara.

A case has been registered against Maulana Ashraf Shakir under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act among other provisions of law. The FIR mentions that he had delivered hateful speeches to incite violence and had led an attack on a police raiding team on March 25, 2013.

The petitioner was not present in court when the three-member Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, took up his bail plea.

Counsel for the petitioner said his client had been injured in an accident and was under treatment at Mayo Hospital’s Emergency Ward. He said though the law required Shakir to appear before court for confirmation of bail, he was in no condition to do so.

Justice Mian Saqib Nisar then pointed out that the petitioner had used the same excuse for absence at the hearing of his bail petition in the Lahore High Court before it was dismissed.

In order to ascertain the truth, the Supreme Court issued instructions for an ambulance to bring the maulana and a doctor in position of authority to the court.

Mayo Hospital Additional Medical Superintendent Tahir Khalil accompanied Shakir to court in the ambulance. He told the court that Shakir had, indeed, been brought to the hospital with minor injuries on Monday however, he had been discharged. He said there were no records that showed that Shakir had stayed in the hospital on Tuesday.

At this, the bench moved to dismiss the bail petition, but the counsel sought permission to withdraw it. The bench then dismissed the petition as withdrawn and the police arrested the cleric.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 5^th, 2015.