PESHAWAR: A local court on Thursday granted transit pre-arrest bail to former provincial information minister and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Kamran Khan Bangash in a case registered against him in Lower Chitral district on the charge of inciting people against state institutions.

Additional sessions judge Said Badshah directed him to appear before the relevant Lower Chitral court by Nov 6 and submit two surety bonds of Rs90,000 each.

Lawyer Ali Zaman appeared for him and contended that his client was falsely implicated in the case, which was registered on the complaint of a resident on Oct 27, 2023.

He feared the arrest of the petitioner in the case on his way to Chitral for appearing before the relevant court and said his client should be granted transit bail for that reason.

Earlier in the day, the court ordered his release over a habeas corpus petition filed by his counsel, Ali Zaman, under Section 491 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The PTI leader was granted bail by a court in Tank district on Wednesday (Nov 1) in a case registered on the complaint of a resident, who accused him of campaigning against state institutions on social media.

However, he wasn’t released in Tank and was shifted to the Peshawar Central Prison on Thursday.

His counsel then submitted a habeas corpus petition claiming that his client had been kept in illegal detention.

Over the said application the court ordered his production and later ordered his release after which he filed a petition seeking transit bail in the case registered in Lower Chitral.

Lower Chitral district police officerIkramullah Khan confirmed to Dawn the registration of a case against the PTI leader under sections 120-B and 153-A of Pakistan Penal Code on the written complaint of a local resident.

He said the complainant insisted that PTI leader Kamran Bangash had been “incessantly sharing provocative and malicious materials against state institutions from his Facebook ID disparaging their image in the public and creating estrangement in the society against the state.”

He said the police registered a case accordingly after getting legal opinion from the relevant quarters and Mr Bangash was directed to report to the city police station of Chitral where he was booked for the offence.

Mr Bangash was initially arrested on Oct 20 by the police in Peshawar on the charge of sheltering former federal minister and absconding PTI leader Murad Saeed. A case was registered against him at the Chamkani police station under different provisions of the PPC and Anti-Terrorism Act for harbouring proclaimed offender Murad Saeed.

He got bail from an anti-terrorism court on Oct 30 but wasn’t freed from the Peshawar Central Prison and was instead handed over to the Dera Ismail Khan police after the registration of a case against him on almost identical charges.

Judicial magistrate Mazhar Ali discharged him from that case on Nov 31. The police showed his arrest afterwards in two other FIRs registered about the May 9-10 violent protests.

After he got bail in the two cases, Tank police registered another FIR against him. Judicial magistrate Shah Khalid granted him bail in that case, too.

(Our correspondent from Chitral contributed to this report)

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2023