An anti-terrorism court (ATC) has issued a notice to former MNA Ali Wazir of the outlawed Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) on an application seeking cancellation of his post-arrest bail in a provocative speech case.
The prosecution had filed applications under the section 497(5) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) before the ATC seeking cancellation of bail granted to Wazir in three cases lodged at different police stations in Karachi.
The ATC-VII judge took up the application filed in the case lodged at the Sohrab Goth police station and issued a notice to the accused.
The defence counsel was also supplied a copy of the application to submit comments on it.
During the hearing, the court was informed that Wazir was presently confined in the District Prison Dadu. The court adjourned the hearing until April 16.
The prosecution stated that the courts had ignored the gravity and heinous nature of offences while granting bail to the accused, adding that the allegations directly impinged upon the sovereignty and integrity of the state as well as public order and tranquility.
“The learned court failed to appreciate that such offences disentitle the accused from the concession of bail,” the application read. It said that the court’s erroneous reliance on delay in lodging of the FIR as the ground for the grant of bail stood sufficiently explained due to the sensitive nature of the offence, and that at bail stage, such delay does not diminish the evidentiary value of the prosecution case. The prosecution said the court also ignored the fact that the accused was involved in many similar cases and he misused the concession of bail by indulging similar acts by delivering provocative and inflammatory speeches.
“Such conduct demonstrates a pattern of defiance of law and disregard for the conditions implicit in the grant of bail and as such liberty so granted has been converted into a licence to perpetuate similar offences.”
