Quashing of FIRs: SHC issues notice on Waseem Akhtar’s bail plea

Sedition and terrorism cases were registered against several MQM leaders

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) issued on Tuesday notices to the provincial prosecutor general and others on an application filed by Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Waseem Akhtar seeking pre-arrest bail on sedition and terrorism charges.

Headed by Justice Sadiq Hussain Bhatti, the bench asked the prosecutor general and others to file comments by January 11. Akhtar, the MQM's nominee for the post of mayor Karachi, had moved the high court for bail soon after several party leaders were booked in various FIRs—two of them lodged in Karachi —for allegedly listening to their party chief's speeches against national institutions.

In Karachi, two FIRs were lodged at the Sohrab Goth and SITE police under sections 123-A, 124-A of the Pakistan Penal Code, read with the Section 25 of the Telegraph Act and Sections 6/7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.



In the FIRs, the complainants, Umar Khan and Mohabbat Khan, had alleged that during a current affairs programme on TV, Akhtar had supported his party chief's statement against several federal institutions, the Inter-Services Intelligence and the Military Intelligence, operation Zarb-e-Azb and the Karachi operation.

On the contrary, Akhtar argued that he belonged to a large political party which has been striving for the national cause at the national level.

The applicant said in early October he had come to know about the registration of cases under "false" allegations.

He explained that in the complaints, bogus allegations of disloyalty and persuasion of public incitement have been levelled against him.

The court was informed that the MQM lawmakers had resigned from the national and provincial assemblies due to grudges and enmity of the state against their party.

He had claimed that the accusations of sedition and terrorism leveled in the FIRs against him were aimed at pressuring the MQM leaders to rejoin the assemblies.

The court was pleaded to quash the FIRs. It was also requested to restrain the SHOs from harassing the petitioner, and to further restrain police from registering any case against him. On Tuesday, the bench issued notice on an application seeking urgent hearing of the bail plea and directed the Sindh prosecutor general and others to file comments by January 11.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2016.