No solid evidence found so far against Gill and therefore he cannot be refused bail, holds court.
ISLAMABAD - The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Thursday granted post-arrest bail to Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shahbaz Gill in a sedition case registered against him.
A single bench of IHC comprising Chief Justice of IHC Justice Athar Minallah conducted hearing of Gill’s petition wherein the PTI leader adopted the stance that evidence of torture was found on him and thus, the court may grant him post-arrest bail in this matter. The IHC bench accepted Gill’s bail petition and directed him to furnish surety bonds worth Rs 500, 000.
During the hearing, Gill’s counsel Salman Safdar Advocate said that case against his client was registered under 14 different sections of the Pakistan Penal Code on the basis of a “speech” and argued that the case was registered under malicious intent and was politically-motivated. He added that the entire case revolves around a speech. Safdar further said that the investigation had already been completed and nothing to be recovered from Gill.
The IHC Chief Justice asked that whether Gill had actually made the statements quoted in the FIR. He added that how would you justify such comments coming from a party representative and why do political parties drag the armed forces into politics. Gill’s lawyer answered that statements from the complainant of the case had been a bigger cause of anarchy and Gill’s speech did not cause as much anarchy as the complainant had done. He alleged that some parts from Gill’s remarks had been removed and only some parts were put together to make a case.
He argued that the PTI leader had not made a single utterance against the armed forces and claimed that different sections of his speech were taken out of context due to ulterior motives. The petitioner’s counsel also contended that nobody else had the right to file a case on behalf of the armed forces. Justice Athar remarked that the armed forces are not so weak that someone’s irresponsible statements would affect them. He also said that in no way Gill’s irresponsible statements could be justified. Then, the bench asked that was the government’s permission sought before the case was registered? Advocate Safdar said that the government was not consulted on the matter but special prosecutor Raja Rizwan Abbasi contradicted him and said the government’s permission was indeed sought in this connection.