ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday halted the release of Raja Arshad, who is accused in the murder of Barrister Fahad Malik, after an anti-terrorism court granted him post-arrest bail.

A two-member division bench of Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, while hearing an application filed by the mother of the deceased, converted it to a petition seeking the cancellation of bail granted to Mr Arshad earlier on Tuesday.

The court issued notices to the accused and the prosecution, and restrained the Central Prison Adiala superintendent “from releasing the accused, namely Raja Arshad.”

The bench directed the registrar’s office “to communicate this order to the superintendent, Central Prison Adiala, Rawalpindi.”

Mr Arshad has been nominated in an Aug 15, 2016 FIR registered with the Shalimar police.

The applicant, Maliha Malik, contended before the court that the suspect was granted bail at a time when the trial of Malik’s murder was in its final stages and statements of accused individuals are to be recorded under section 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

She contended that Mr Arshad was a fugitive from the law, arrested while attempting to flee the country.

The accused was arrested trying to enter Afghanistan from the Torkham border crossing, as he was on the exit control list.

Malik was killed in a shooting in the capital, reportedly while mediating a case between two parties involving groups connected to his uncle Tariq Malik and Raja Arshad, Nauman Khokar and others.

He was the nephew of former Senate chairman Mian Mohammad Soomro, the incumbent privatisation minister.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2019