LHC grants bail to Wazirabad attack accused

Defence lawyer says prosecution failed to collect evidence

LAHORE:

In a recent development, the Lahore High Court (LHC) has granted bail to Tayyab Jahangir Butt, one of the accused involved in the attack on the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

A two-member bench of the Lahore High Court, consisting of Justice Alia Neelam and Justice Shahram Sarwar Chaudhry, presided over the Wazirabad firing case and made the decision to grant bail to Tayyab Jahangir Butt.

During the court hearing, Advocate Mian Dawood, representing co-accused Tayyab Jahangir Butt, argued that his client had been under arrest since November 4, 2021.

The arrest was made based on the information provided by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) at the request of the PTI leadership, with the arrest being revealed on January 10.

The defence lawyer informed the court that Tayyab Butt had been subjected to torture by JIT chief Ghulam Mehmood Dogar, who allegedly coerced him into making statements against his will under pressure from the PTI leadership.

The prosecution has charged Tayyab Butt with conspiracy under Section 120B of the Pakistan Penal Code, and his involvement in the incident has also been cited as a collective responsibility under the Anti-Terrorism Act, he added.

In the courtroom, Advocate Mian Dawood argued that the prosecution had failed to collect any independent and substantial evidence against Tayyab Butt throughout the six-month investigation.

He further emphasised that even the five JITs appointed by the PTI government had been unable to gather any concrete evidence against the co-accused.

The defence lawyer pointed out that despite the passage of six months, the prosecution had been unable to complete the investigation or submit a final challan. As per the law, an accused individual cannot be held in custody indefinitely, regardless of the seriousness of the charges.

In light of the arguments presented, the LHC ordered the release of co-accused Tayyab Butt on bail. The court set the bail amount at Rs500,000.

During the hearing, the prosecution provided the court with the case record. The public prosecutor stated that Tayyab Butt had been named in the statement of co-accused Waqas.

Responding to this, the defence lawyer asserted that there was no direct evidence linking Tayyab Butt to the incident or proving his involvement in the conspiracy.

Following the deliberation of the arguments, the court granted bail to the accused Tayyab Jahangir Butt upon submission of a bond worth Rs500,000.