PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Friday granted transit bail to some Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leaders, including Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omer Ayub Khan and adviser to the provincial chief minister Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif.

Chief Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim heard separate petitions filed by Omer Ayub, Barrister Saif, special assistant to the chief minister Mashal Azam, former provincial minister Wazirzada and Tayyaba Raja, and granted them bail until Nov 7.

A single-member bench directed them all to appear before the relevant courts by that date.

Advocate Alam Khan Adenzai and other lawyers appeared for the petitioners.

In the Omer Ayub case, the counsel argued that he had been charged in around 22 cases recently after the protests in Islamabad early this month.

He said that the petitioner intended to go to Islamabad to attend the National Assembly sessions, but he apprehended his arrest.

The lawyer contended that the petitioner had been named in fabricated cases and he wanted to surrender before the relevant courts.

He requested the court to grant him transit or protective bail so that he could approach the concerned courts to get relief from there.

The other petitioners also claimed that they had been charged in concocted cases and they needed to approach the relevant courts.

They, however, claimed that they would be arrested by law-enforcement agencies on their way to those courts.

Meanwhile, the bench also granted transit bails to television anchors Samiullah Abraham, Jamil Farouqi, Ihtesham Abbasi and Farah Iqrar until Nov 7, directing them to appear before the relevant courts in the cases registered against them.

Their lawyer argued that the petitioners had learned that they had been charged in different cases by law-enforcement agencies with mala fide intentions.

He added that as the petitioners were victimised for being critical of the policies of the federal and Punjab governments.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2024