ISLAMABAD: PTI Senator Azam Khan Swati was released on bail on Tuesday, with a warning by the Islamabad High Court against repeating the offence of tweeting against the army due to which he had been detained since November 27.

In an eight-page bail order issued on Mr Swati’s petition, IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq observed: “Needless to observe that in case the petitioner repeats the offence, the law shall take its course and the respondents may make an appropriate application for recalling of the instant order.”

It was the second time in less than two months that Mr Swati was booked and arrested by the FIA over a ‘highly obnoxious campai­­gn of intimidating tweets [...] against state institutions’.

Deputy Attorney Gen­eral Arshad Mehmood Kayani argued before the court that the accused PTI senator repeated the offence while he had already been facing a similar FIR registered against him on Oct 13, 2022.

The FIA Cybercrime Wing arres­ted the PTI leader under Section 20 of the Prevention of Elec­tronic Crimes Act and Sections 109 (abetment), 131 (mutiny), 500 (defamation) and 505 (conducing to public mischief) of the Pakistan Penal Code. His bail plea was dismissed by the Prevention of Elect­r­onic Crime Court, Islam­abad, vide order dated Dec 21, 2022.

Mr Swati, through his counsel Babar Awan, challenged before the IHC the dismissal of his bail plea.

Leaked letter

Interestingly, a ‘leaked’ letter of the senator expressing lack of trust in the IHC chief justice circulated in the mainstream and social media even before it was delivered to the relevant branch of the court. Mr Swati wrote that the order of the IHC chief justice was the reason that he had been handed over to Balochistan and Sindh police where 46 FIRs were registered against him.

Since Mr Swati’s counsel also had made a request to an official of the registrar’s office to fix his case before Justice Babar Sattar, who had recently ordered release of an accused over ‘objectionable’ tweet, Justice Farooq in his order noted “such like letters have become a routine wherein bias is expressed.

“The menace of bench/forum shopping has become rampant in almost every court, hence the matter needs to be dealt with in light of the judgements of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of Pakistan.”

Also, Justice Farooq added: “In order to formulate a policy of the court in response to such letters a larger bench of the court is desirable.”

Advocate Awan, however, requested the court for withdrawal of the letter.

He also argued that the FIA did not follow the SOPs for verification proceedings under Section 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code. He said record showed that the procedure provided in the standing order was also not followed.

He argued that the lapse in the investigation made the case weak requiring further inquiry, but the continued incarceration of the petitioner would not serve any purpose.

The defence counsel further contended the petitioner would make himself available for trial as and when the cases are fixed for trial.

The court accepted the bail petition against Rs200,000 surety bonds. PTI leaders submitted the surety bonds before deputy registrar of the IHC and obtained an order for Mr Swati’s release which was submitted to the jail administration.

Published in Dawn, january 4th, 2023