PESHAWAR: A single bench of the Peshawar High Court on Tuesday dismissed the bail petition filed by brother of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly’s deputy speaker and his cousin, who were charged in an alleged gang rape case of a married woman in Kohat over two months ago.

The bench comprising Justice Malik Manzoor Hussain dismissed the petition after hearing arguments of both the parties and observed that the two petitioners were not entitled to the concession of bail.

The two suspects, Safdar Qureshi – brother of deputy speaker Imtiaz Shahid – and his cousin Asmatullah Qureshi, had filed the bail petition after their application was dismissed by the subordinate court in Kohat.

The victim woman has alleged that the two suspects had forcibly entered their residence on May 6 and sexually assaulted her when she was alone at home.

The suspects include brother and cousin of KP Assembly deputy speaker

The FIR of the occurrence was registered against the two suspects under Section 376 and 452 of Pakistan Penal Code.

Advocate Ameen Khattak Lachi appeared for the complainant whereas Ibrahim Shah represented the government. They contended that the police had been supporting the suspects and due to the same reason the two petitioners were placed in ‘Column 2’ of the case which meant they were not the prime suspect. They stated that placing them in ‘Column 2’ was because of political pressure as one of the petitioners was brother of deputy speaker of the KP Assembly.

They contended that because of political consideration the police had also delayed medical examination of the victim by many days to weaken the case of the victim.

The petitioner’s counsel argued that except the allegations levelled by the woman there was no evidence against the petitioners. He contended that following proper investigation the police had placed the petitioners in ‘Column 2’, which meant that they were falsely implicated in the case.

STAY EXTENDED: A two-member bench comprising Justice Qaiser Rasheed and Justice Ms Mussarat Hilali on Tuesday extended the stay earlier granted against shifting of an under-process public sector medical college from Peshawar to Nowshera by the provincial government.

The court had a few days ago sought comments from the provincial government in a writ petition filed by former provincial minister and ANP leader from Peshawar, Arbab Ayub Jan, and stayed the shifting of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Medical College from Peshawar to Nowshera.

As the comments were not field by the government, the bench extended the stay and directed the government to file comments within 10 days.

Advocate Ghulam Mohiuddin appeared for the petitioner and contended that the building for the college had already been constructed and appointment of staff was in progress.

He stated that as the chief minister hailed from Nowshera, he ordered shifting of the college to Nowshera because of political considerations.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2014