5 Awami Tehreek activists granted bail

Petitioners counsel contended that the 1991 cases were registered with mala fide intent.

KARACHI: Justice Bhajandas Tejwani of the Sindh High Court (SHC) granted protective bail to five suspects on Wednesday in cases registered against them in 1991, against a solvent surety of Rs50,000 each.

The accused included Malik Changez, Malik Nadir, Malik Waheed, Malik Pahar and Malik Sherdil alias Rajoo, who are all brothers claiming to be leaders and supporters of the Awami Tehreek. They filed an application for bail alleging that the cases registered against them by the anti-corruption department are fake and the accusations were made by their “influential” political opponents, who, according to them, are also ministers in the present government.

The counsel for the accused brothers, Khawaja Naveed Ahmed and Abdul Wahab Baloch, submitted that his clients are not government functionaries and cannot be booked by the anti-corruption department. The accused were merely teenagers when they were accused of getting lands allotted in their names illegally, they contended, pleading for bail.

They submitted that the petitioners were being politically victimised by the ruling party and were arrested by the police from Sessions Court, Kotri, on October 14 when they came to attend the court proceedings.

The lawyers said that the SHC had directed the police to not harass the petitioners but despite the court’s directives, the anti-corruption department officials arrested them. They sought protection against the harassment of the police and the anti-corruption department officials harassment, appealing to the court for their clients’ bail.

However, additional advocate-general Adnan Karim submitted that the anti-corruption department could not receive the order of the court and so the petitioners were arrested.

The divisional bench, after hearing the arguments, granted protective bail to the petitioners.

The court also restrained IG police and the anti-corruption establishment from arresting the petitioners in any case without the court’s consent. The court observed that this order will be effective for six months and directed the petitioners and the officials to appear at the next date of hearing.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 21^st, 2010.