The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday granted bail to chief of the Haq Do Tehreek (HDT) Maulana Hidayatur Rehman who has been in detention for over three months on murder charges.

Hidayutur Rehman made the headlines last year for leading a series of protests in Gwadar against illegal trawling in Gwadar’s waters, a high number of security checkpoints and a lack of trade on the Pak-Iran border.

Rehman — who is also Balochistan gen­­eral secretary of Ja­­m­a­at-i-Islami — was arrested in Gwadar on Jan 13 over charges stemming from the killing of a policeman by unidentified assailants on Dec 27, 2022, during the protests held by HDT supporters in December.

The arrest of the HDT chief ignited protests in various parts of Gwadar. His supporters had issued a warning last month that further demonstrations would follow if he was not acquitted.

Hidayatur Rehman’s bail plea was taken up by a three-member bench comprising Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar. Hidayatur Rehman’s lawyer Kamran Murtaza was also present.

At the start of the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel brought to the court’s attention that his client was apprehended from court premises.

Justice Masood inquired about the reasons for not challenging the arrest.

In response, the counsel explained that at the time of the incident, the Supreme Court had not yet ruled that an arrest made within the premises would be considered unlawful. “This rule was decided in the wake of the arrest of Imran Khan,” the lawyer said.

However, the state counsel argued against granting bail to Hidayatur Rehman until the judicial proceedings of the main suspect, Majid Johar, were concluded.

Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar inquired whether Hidayatur Rehman faced charges of inciting and aiding in the murder of the policeman.

Murtaza, his counsel, replied that the specific charge would be determined during the trial.

The counsel told the court that Rehman’s movement was primarily related to the facilitation of water supply.

After hearing arguments, the apex court approved bail for the HDT chief, subject to two surety bonds valued at Rs300,000 each.

Case against HDT chief

On Dec 22 last year, a police constable was killed in Gwadar as clashes between the HDT activists — who had been protesting in the city for nearly two months with various demands including an end to illegal trawling in Gwadar’s water, setting up of a high number of security checkpoints and opening up of trade on the Pak-Iran border.

According to police spokesperson Aslam Khan, constable Yasir was shot in the neck after violence erupted during the protest at Hashmi Chowk. “He died on the spot.”

Subsequently, the police registered a first information report (FIR) against Hidayatur Rehman on charges of murder, attempt to murder, provoking the people for violence and other charges.

The FIR, a copy which is available with Dawn.com, was registered on Dec 30, 2022 and names three other people along with Rehman as responsible for the alleged charges.

It claimed that Rehman “provoked and incited the people sitting there (at the protest site) to pelt stones at government vehicles”, which allegedly resulted in the “shattering of car windows” of a police officer along with other losses.

The movement advocating for the rights of the people of Gwadar was launched in November 2021, with Maulana Rehman at the forefront.