PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Friday decided to club together 48 petitions filed by the provincial government seeking cancellation of bail granted by anti-terrorism courts to scores of people booked for involvement in the May 9-10 violent protests, including the ransacking of the Radio Pakistan building and Election Commission of Pakistan’s regional offices in Peshawar.

A total of 27 petitions were fixed before a single-member bench of Justice Ijaz Anwar, whereas 21 others were fixed with the bench of Justice Shahid Khan.

The court has now fixed July 24 for hearing all these cases together.

Additional advocate general Jalaluddin Akber Gara appeared before Justice Ijaz Anwar and informed that some other petitions were fixed before the other bench.

The bench observed that it would be appropriate to club together all such petitions and to hear it on next date.

Govt claims evidence available against suspects

The government in these petitions has claimed that though enough evidence was available against the suspects, the ATCs accepted their bail pleas.

Some of these petitions are related to FIRs registered in different police stations in Peshawar including East Cant and Khan Raziq Shaheed police stations. In those cases over 300 suspects were granted bail by anti-terrorism courts.

The AAG contended that the subordinate courts had erred in granting bail to hundreds of suspects against whom evidence was available.

He stated that the orders of the anti-terrorism courts were apparently illegal, erroneous and factually incorrect and thus, resulting in miscarriage of justice.

He contended that most of the suspects were arrested red-handed by the police but the ATCs “erred” while granting them bail.

In one of the petitions, the prosecution said that after smashing the main gate of the Radio Pakistan premises in Peshawar, the protesters torched the building and vehicles parked there spreading fear, terror and insecurity in the society.

It added that the police had tactfully arrested 20 of the suspects from the mob, while the rest of 200-300 miscreants managed to escape.

The prosecution said the police had arrested several others in the case afterwards.

It claimed that several suspects were also directly charged in the relevant FIR and there was every likelihood that they would repeat the offence after their release on the acceptance of bail applications by the ATCs.

In the attack and ransacking of the Radio Pakistan building in Peshawar, the Chagai monument was also torched and several vehicles and other structures were damaged and set on fire. Its FIR was registered at the East Cantonment police station on May 10 under different provisions of the Pakistan Penal Code and Anti-Terrorism Act.

In another petition related to attack on the Regional Office of the Election Commission of Pakistan, it is mentioned that the FIR was registered in the East Cantt police station on May 10 under the provisions of the Pakistan Penal Code and Anti-Terrorism Act.

About another case registered at Khan Raziq Shaheed Police Station, the prosecution claimed that scores of persons were booked for damaging and torching an ambulance of the Edhi Foundation, damaging several ATM machines of different banks and smashing the main gate of a woman’s government college during a protest demonstration against the arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan.

The prosecution stated that the protesters had also resorted to firing resulting in death of one of the citizens.

The prosecution claimed that in cases registered in Peshawar and Landi Kotal, Khyber district, bails were granted to more than 300 protesters despite availability of evidence against them.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2023