Judicial remand extended for three lawyers

Hearing on post-arrest bail pleas filed adjourned due to the absence of petitioners’ counsels

ISLAMABAD:

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) extended the judicial remand of three lawyers arrested in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) vandalism case.

The hearing on the post-arrest bail pleas filed by the arrested lawyers in another case was adjourned due to the absence of the petitioners’ counsels. ATC Judge Raja Jawad Abbas Hassan presided over the case on Thursday where the accused lawyers, including Naveed Malik and Nazia Abbasi, were presented before the court.

Abbasi pleaded with the court to provide evidence that showed her involvement in the attack. She claimed not touching a single thing during the entire incident, adding that they were being dragged into the matter due to a personal dispute.

Malik said that he had been practising law for the past 25 years and has never witnessed an incident like the attack at IHC. The lawyer claimed that he was not involved in any such incident while they are being presented as terrorists.

The court directed the police to bring the booked lawyers separately from other under-trial prisoners (UTPs). Abbasi and Malik claimed that the investigation officer (IO) was not cooperating with them.

At this, the court took a break in the hearing and summoned the IO. The court then extended the judicial remand of the suspects until March 1.

Meanwhile in another case in the same court, the hearing on the post-arrest bail pleas filed by Islamabad District Bar Association (IDBA) Secretary Liaquat Manzur Kambuh, Muhammad Amir, and Khalid Mehmood was adjourned until Friday (today).

Mehmood’s lawyer informed the court that his client had no link with the incident and pleaded with the court to release him. However, the court adjourned the case due to the absence of counsel for the other two suspects.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19^th, 2021.