ISLAMABAD: An Anti-Ter­rorism Court ATC) has gran­ted interim bail to PTI leaders Omar Ayub and Sher Afzal Marwat in a case filed over their party’s D-Chowk protest.

During the hearing on Tues­day, Mr Khan appeared in court with his lawyer, Babar Awan.

ATC Judge Tahir Abbas Sip­ra inquired about his involvement in the case and, after reviewing the matter, granted him bail against bonds worth Rs5,000 each.

Earlier, the bond was set at Rs50,000.

The judge also instructed Mr Khan to join the investigation and adjourned the hearing until Dec 10.

Later, Mr Marwat appeared in court alongside his lawyer, Riyasat Ali Azad and expressed frustration over the multiple cases filed against him. He mentioned his writ petition in the high court against the FIRs registered against him. The petition would be heard on Friday, Mr Marwat added.

When questioned by the judge, the PTI leader claimed he voluntarily appeared in court to address the arrest warrants against him.

Judge Sipra clarified that “surrender” meant securing bail through a pre-arrest app­l­i­­­cation and advised Mr Mar­wat to follow proper legal steps.

Despite the ongoing confusion over the warrants, the court granted interim bail to Mr Marwat in seven different cases filed in Secretariat, Koh­sar, Ramna, Tarnol, and Kara­chi Company police stations.

The bail was granted in exchange for bonds of Rs5,000 each. The court issued notices to the police and adjourned the hearing until Dec 10.

The judge also granted a one-day physical remand of 17 protesters arrested during the demonstration in Islamabad.

They were being investigated in connection with a case registered at the Secretariat police station.

During the proceedings, Prosecutor Raja Naveed sought physical remand, noting a clerical error in the previous order.

He explained that the remand period was mistakenly recorded as four days instead of the three days initially granted.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2024