PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court on Tuesday granted protective bails to three leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-i- Insaf including two lawmakers till Jan 28 and directed law enforcement agencies not to arrest them in the cases registered against them till then.

A bench consisting of Justice Syed Mohammad Attique Shah and Justice Mohammad Faheem Wali issued the orders in petitions filed by MNA from Punjab Chaudhry Bilal Ijaz, MPA Iftikhar Mishwani, former senator Faisal Javed and caretaker of Banigala residence of former prime minister Imran Khan named Rizwan.

In the cases of Faisal Javed and Iftikhar Mishwani, the bench issued notice to federal government, directing it to provide details of cases wherein they had been charged within a fortnight.

In the cases of other two petitioners, who belong to Punjab, the bench directed them to approach relevant courts till Jan 28 and after that date the order would become ineffective.

Faisal Javed says govt has made record by registering cases on political grounds

Advocate Alam Khan Adenzai appeared for petitioner Faisal Javed and stated that he was central leader of PTI and on political grounds he had been implicated in multiple cases.

He stated that after the Nov 24 protests, federal and Punjab governments had registered cases in a large number against PTI leaders and workers including the present petitioner.

He said that the petitioner intended to approach relevant courts for getting relief, but government was not disclosing the exact number of cases registered against him.

He added that the petitioner apprehended his arrest if he approached relevant courts for which he may be granted protective bail.

The counsel said that under Article 19-A of the Constitution it was the fundamental right of the petitioner to be provided with details of cases against him. During course of hearing when Justice Attique Shah inquired from Mr Javed to which area he belonged, he replied he hailed from Zaida village of Swabi district.

Addressing him, the bench observed that he was also son of this soil what future planning they had for the youth of the province as almost 70 per cent had been unemployed. Mr Javed agreed with him, stating that his party primary focus was on youth as they were asset of the country.

Justice Attique Shah commented that youth had been getting addicted to ice (crystal meth) and steps should be taken on war footings to address the issue.

The bench observed that there were colleges at every tehsil level and also universities in a large number, therefore government should take advantage of the educational institutions for imparting skills to youth.

The bench observed that in India information technology industry had been rapidly growing and there were reports of its earning US $380 billion per annum from it. The bench also referred to security situation in Kurram tribal district, observing that the situation had been getting complicated there.

Meanwhile, Advocate Ali Zaman appeared for MPA Iftikhar Mishwani and requested the bench to grant him protective bail. He also sought directives for the government to provide details about the number of criminal cases wherein he had been charged.

During course of hearing of these petitions, the bench observed that in the cases of petitioners belonging to other provinces the bench would only grant protective bails to them and they should approach relevant courts for getting further relief. It added that details of cases would be sought only in petitions wherein the petitioner belonged to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Meanwhile, Faisal Javed told journalists that the present government had created new records of registering cases on political grounds. He said that PTI founder Imran Khan was facing record number of cases and he would emerge victorious in all those cases.

He regretted that on the one hand the government was engaged in talks with his party and on the other hand it was arresting party workers in concocted cases.

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2025

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