FIA record summoned in Khadija Shah bail case

An additional district and sessions judge has summoned the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) relevant record while hearing an application for post-arrest bail filed by PTI’s social media activist Khadija Shah who is detained in a case registered against her regarding the May 9 riots.

The petitioner had filed the plea regarding an FIR registered against her for controversial tweets on the day.

The petitioner’s counsel argued that his client has nothing to do with such cases registered against her relating to the May 9 riots. He requested the court to allow her bail.

However, the judge summoned the FIA record by Tuesday.

The petitioner had also filed a plea in the Lahore High Court, seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against police officers over arresting her in a third case and allegedly deceiving the court through a report submitted earlier in response to her application seeking details of the FIRs registered against her anywhere. She contended that the police had mentioned two FIRs in the report but when she had been granted bail by a division bench of the LHC, they had arrested her in the third case.

During the proceedings on November 3, Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Usman Anwar could not satisfy the court upon repeated queries that why Khadija Shah had bene arrested in the third case after she had been granted bail, why the police had preferred to wait till court’s final order regarding her bail, why she had not been interrogated during custody and who would guarantee that she would not be arrested in another case if she was granted bail in the third.

LHC Justice Ali Baqar Najafi had fixed the next hearing on November 10 with the direction to the IGP to submit a comprehensive written reply.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 7^th, 2023.