Mayor gets bail in 3 cases
The bail order was good enough in setting a precedent for other cases to deal with identical cases
The bail order was good enough in setting a precedent for other cases to deal with identical cases. PHOTO: PPI
KARACHI:
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) granted on Thursday bail to Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar in three cases pertaining to the May 12 riots and hate speech.
The ATC-III judge allowed bail to Akhtar against a surety of Rs300,000 in each of the cases and observed that he may be released if not arrested in any other case.
The mayor, however, will remain in jail since he faces around a dozen more cases and has to first obtain bail in all the cases before he gets out of jail.
Of the three cases in which Akhtar has been granted bail, two revolve around the May 12, 2007, riots in the city while one is regarding last year's controversial speech of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain.
Akhtar, through his counsel, had moved a bail application in a previous hearing, contending that the cases against him were politically motivated and he was not involved in any of them.
He was taken into custody in July this year after an ATC had rejected his interim bail application in Dr Asim Hussain's terror facilitation case. Days after his incarceration, he was arrested in several other cases dating back to 2007 when he was the home adviser to the Sindh chief minister.
According to MQM legal aid committee official Advocate Latif Pasha, the bail order was good enough in setting a precedent for other cases to deal with identical cases.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 30th, 2016.
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) granted on Thursday bail to Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar in three cases pertaining to the May 12 riots and hate speech.
The ATC-III judge allowed bail to Akhtar against a surety of Rs300,000 in each of the cases and observed that he may be released if not arrested in any other case.
The mayor, however, will remain in jail since he faces around a dozen more cases and has to first obtain bail in all the cases before he gets out of jail.
Of the three cases in which Akhtar has been granted bail, two revolve around the May 12, 2007, riots in the city while one is regarding last year's controversial speech of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain.
Akhtar, through his counsel, had moved a bail application in a previous hearing, contending that the cases against him were politically motivated and he was not involved in any of them.
He was taken into custody in July this year after an ATC had rejected his interim bail application in Dr Asim Hussain's terror facilitation case. Days after his incarceration, he was arrested in several other cases dating back to 2007 when he was the home adviser to the Sindh chief minister.
According to MQM legal aid committee official Advocate Latif Pasha, the bail order was good enough in setting a precedent for other cases to deal with identical cases.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 30th, 2016.