Chief Justice Yahya Afridi observed on Monday that some judicial findings in granting bail to those accused in the May 9, 2023 violence cases were incorrect. However, he directed the lawyer for the Punjab government to reconsider its plea for the cancellation of the bail.
While hearing Punjab's appeals against the grant of bail, the court suggested that the trial court be asked to complete the trial proceedings within three months and submit a fortnightly progress report to the high court concerned.
The Punjab government's lawyer told the apex court that a brief had been prepared regarding the May 9 violence. The lawyer added that the trial court had not decided the bail applications in accordance with the law.
The chief justice remarked that relevant material was still awaited and it had yet to be submitted to the court. He also observed that if any accused misused the bail, the law would take its course. He urged the lawyer to reconsider the pleas for bail cancellation.
Separately, during hearing of another matter, the Supreme Court observed that the Lahore High Court (LHC) chief justice wanted to send a message to the government on the reference against a judge, which was sent and the administrative Judge also agreed.
The Supreme Court said that the decision of the LHC would not impact the careers of the prosecutor general and the anti-terrorism court (ATC) Judge. Chief Justice Afridi further stated that he did not want to interfere with the authority of the high court.
The Supreme Court, while disposing of the appeals for the transfer of cases related to the ATC Rawalpindi judge, upheld the imposition of fine of Rs200,000 per appeal on the prosecutor general of Punjab.
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