Not present: Judge dismisses APML leader’s interim bail

Neither Dr Amjad nor his lawyer appeared before the court.

RAWALPINDI:

An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) dismissed the interim bail of the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) leader and former president Pervez Musharraf’s spokesman on Saturday.

The APML leader and Musharraf’s spokesman, Dr Amjad, who was on an interim bail till Saturday, was supposed to appear before ATC-II Rawalpindi Special Judge Rana Maqsood Akhtar. However, neither he nor his lawyer, Barrister Salman Safdar, showed up, prompting the judge to cancel the interim bail.

Dr Amjad was booked in the lawyers’ thrashing and torture case, after APML supporters attacked lawyers with sticks and blades, injuring several of them, on April 24 at a local court in Rawalpindi.

Earlier, the court after accepting his pre-arrest bail application on April 30, had asked Dr Amjad to appear before the court on May 4.

Meanwhile, lawyers in District and Sessions Court in Rawalpindi observed complete strike against the killing of FIA prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali. Courts wore a deserted look as no lawyer appeared before any court, forcing plaintiffs to return.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Secretary District Bar Association Rawalpindi Malik Zaheer Arshad said that the chief justice of Pakistan had already been apprised of the threats and difficulties being faced by lawyers in pursuing high profile cases.

“We will soon meet the chief of the army staff and other high ups to convey our concerns,” he said.

He said that the legal fraternity will continue to struggle for the rule of law, despite all odds and threats.

“We are beaten up, kidnapped and killed and despite all this, we are labelled as intolerant and ill-mannered,” he lamented.

He demanded of the chief justice of Pakistan to take suo motu notice of Ali’s murder and order a judicial inquiry into the murder.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 5^th, 2013.