Trader withdraws protective bail: Infected sheep

Trader said a number of charges had been leveled against him for importing the sheep, hence he sought the bail.

RAWALPINDI: The trader who imported sheep from Australia, withdrew his application for protective bail from the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Rawalpindi bench after the Sindh High Court (SHC) had ordered suspension of operation on FIR registered against the importers.

Justice Mamoon Rasheed of the LHC was to take up a petition filed by Tariq Butt who sought protective bail to be able to access the trial court in Karachi and get a pre-arrest bail. However, he withdrew his plea before it was heard.

Advocate Intikhab Hussain Shah, who was representing the importer, informed the court that his client wanted to get back his bail plea since he had received an order from the SHC, in which the court had suspended culling of the alleged infected sheep.

In his application, the owner of PK Enterprises argued that criminal cases against him were registered under the charges of trying to spread infected diseases, handling animals with negligence, attempt to murder, intentionally trying to amputate people, trying to impair the functions and capacity of human body organs and under the animal act 1979.

The petitioners counsel contended that all the criminal cases registered against his client were baseless, and pointed out that foreign and veterinary doctors had issued clearance certificates after testing the sheep.

Talking to media persons, Tariq Butt said that he could satisfy all the concerned departments that the sheep were health. He added that the culling of the sheep would cause him a loss of millions of rupees.

Butt claimed that the hue and cry raised about the sheep was a propaganda and that laboratories in Pakistan had cleared 100 sheep after tests.