ATC grants bail to 150 TLP workers

Suspects charged with violating SOPs, blocking roads, inciting people

LAHORE:

An anti-terrorism court on Wednesday granted post-arrest bail to around 150 workers of the banned Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) in a case registered after they held a rally on August 14.

The suspects were booked for attending the rally while violating the Covid-19 SOPs, using a sound system, blocking roads, creating hindrance for public and inciting people against the government.

Nawankot police produced the suspects at the ATC, where their counsel Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry contended that holding a rally on Independence Day was the right of every citizen but the government had misconstrued it. It was a peaceful rally but the local police registered an FIR against the participants.

Other counsel for the suspects also argued that they were innocent of the charges levelled in the FIR. A law officer told the court that all violations mentioned in the case had been committed by the suspects and evidence in this regard had been recorded. He requested the court to dismiss the bail applications.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 2^nd, 2021.