Judicial complex clashes case: Azam Swati granted pre-arrest bail

Court approves bail on surety bond of Rs 50,000; adjourns hearing of the case till April 5

ISLAMABAD:

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad on Friday granted bail to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Azam Swati in the judicial complex clashes case.

A pre-arrest bail application was filed on behalf of the PTI leader, who also appeared in the court along with his lawyer Babar Awan.

Awan maintained that the PTI leader was named in the FIR on political grounds and the case was registered under a premeditated plan, which does not justify the imposition of terrorism provision.

He pleaded that Swati was not even present at the scene of the incident, therefore, his bail should be approved.

The court then granted bail to the PTI leader on a surety bond of Rs 50,000 and adjourned the hearing of the case till April 5.

Also read: Court summons Imran on March 30 in Toshakhana case

Last week, PTI Chairman Imran Khan and other leaders as well as activists of the party were booked in a case of terrorism at Islamabad’s Golra Sharif police station for setting government vehicles ablaze, attacking cops and snatching away their official weapons.

On March 18, the PTI chief had reached the G-11 Judicial Complex accompanied by 4,000 activists to appear before a district and sessions court in the Toshakhana case – in which he faced charges of concealing details of the gifts he had acquired from the depository in his asset declarations submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which had then filed a complaint against him.

However, the police and activists engaged in fierce clashes outside the complex as the latter wanted to escort their chief onto the court premises but the former did not permit them to do so because of security arrangements, compelling the judge to put off the proceedings till March 30 and cancel Imran’s non-bailable arrest warrants after marking his attendance at the gate.