Overview
- ATC Judge Abul Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain approved bail on Rs5,000 sureties each in cases tied to a High Court scuffle and a Press Club protest, following an earlier Feb. 19 bail order in a separate Secretariat Police Station case on Rs10,000 sureties.
- In the High Court scuffle matter, Islamabad High Court Bar Association President Wajid Ali Gilani submitted an affidavit withdrawing his complaint.
- Despite these bail orders, the couple remains in custody because their convictions in the controversial tweets case stand and suspension-of-sentence petitions have not been decided.
- The Islamabad High Court heard the suspension bids before Justice Muhammad Asif as the government sought a transfer to Justice Azam Khan’s bench and the defence objected, with the judge indicating a date would be set after earlier matters conclude.
- A trial court on Jan. 24 handed the pair a combined 17-year sentence under multiple PECA provisions in a 22-page judgment by Judge Afzal Majoka, acquitting them of one hate-speech charge.