ATC dismisses Qureshi’s bail plea in two cases

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Friday dismissed former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s application for interim bail and exemption from court appearance.

The court dismissed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) vice chairman's interim bail pleas in two cases registered against him at the Kahna police station over no-show.

Judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain announced the decision after hearing arguments from both the sides.

Qureshi’s counsel Ali Bukhari had filed two different pleas seeking a day’s exemption from court appearance and summoning his client who is currently in jail in a cypher case.

He had also moved the court for Qureshi's interim bail.

During the hearing, the prosecutor requested the court to reject Qureshi's bail application. Bukhari advocated that his client was "not absent intentionally, but he has been sent to jail on court orders".

"A judge has to judge by looking at the whole picture," he said, maintaining that he was not asking for "extraordinary relief" for his client but an exemption from attendance.

On the other hand, the prosecutor said that the Supreme Court had made the presence of the accused for bail before arrest mandatory. The PTI vice chairman's counsel said that if "he was intentionally absent, then the bail could be dismissed".

The court reserved the decision after hearing arguments from both the parties.

Subsequently, the court rejected Qureshi's interim bail application and also dismissed pleas seeking exemption and summons. It said that the law required the presence of the accused for bail before arrest.

The former minister is currently in Adiala Jail on a judicial remand in the missing cypher case registered under the Official Secrets Act, 1923.