ISLAMABAD: The Isl­amabad High Court confirmed pre-arrest bail of three Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leaders on Thursday.

Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri of the IHC confirmed the pre-arrest bail of Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Asad Umar and Asad Qaiser in cases registered against them over May 9 violence.

The state counsel opposed the bail petitions, saying that these were filed in contravention of the set procedure.

The judge remarked that the petitioners were not responsible for the crime committed by the co-accused persons.

The defence counsel ar­­gued that both the accu­s­­ed — Mr Qure­shi and Mr Umar, were charged with abetment.

Justice Jahangiri poin­ted out that the First Information Report (FIR) alleged that the PTI chairman in a video message had given a call for the protest whereas there was no evidence against the petitioners.

Defence counsel Ali Bukhari argued that both the leaders were not present among the protesters on May 9.

The same court also confirmed the pre-arrest bail of former speaker of the National Assembly Asad Qaiser.

His counsel Sher Afzal Khan Marwat read out the FIR registered against Mr Qaiser with the Sangjiani police station. He pointed out that there was no connection of Mr Qaiser with the violent protests erupted after the arrest of

Mr Khan. He argued that Mr Qaiser was not himself present in the protests.

The court confirmed the pre-arrest bail of

Mr Qaiser for Rs500,000 surety bonds.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2023