LHC dismisses Azam Swati’s application to transfer bail cases

LAHORE   -   The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday dismissed an application filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Azam Swati for the transfer of his interim bail applications from an anti-terrorism court (ATC) to another court. The single bench, comprising LHC Chief Justice Aalia Neelum, heard the application filed by the PTI leader. Swati’s counsel argued before the court that his client had obtained interim bail in the May 9 cases from the ATC in Lahore. He submitted that the ATC judge had disclosed a bias against the petitioner during a recent hearing of the interim bail applications. However, the Chief Justice observed that Azam Swati had not yet joined the investigation. “The court has repeatedly told him to join the investigation, but he has not done so,” she added. She questioned how he could accuse the judge and request a change of court in these circumstances. In response, Swati’s counsel argued that his client was cooperating with the investigation, but the police were not conducting a proper investigation. At this, the chief justice asked the counsel to provide grounds before accusing the judge. However, the counsel requested more time to present arguments. The chief justice denied the request for more time and dismissed the application for the transfer of interim bail applications.

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