ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the interim bail plea filed by Senator Sarfraz Bugti who is nominated in a case pertaining to kidnapping a nine-year-old girl.

As the court adjourned the hearing of the plea for bail before arrest till July 14, Kamran Murtaza – the counsel for Bugti – requested for short-term relief.

Pressing the two-member bench for interim bail till the next hearing, he said his client would face difficulties if the request wasn’t entertained.

However, Justice Qazi Amin remarked that who would arrest Bugti now as he had not been detained for the last six months. Bail would be granted if there was a genuine case for that, he added.

Justice Mazhar Alam, who was heading the two-member bench, observed that Bugti was an influential person and attempts should be made to ensure that the girl was recovered.

At this point, Justice Qazi, addressing the defence council, added whether he [Kamran] was able to understand what the court was saying.

The latest decision came after the Balochistan High Court (BHC) rejected his interim bail last month.

In January this year, Bugti, who is the former home minister and currently associated with Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), was detained for a brief period in the kidnapping case after a district court in Quetta rejected his bail plea.

A woman had lodged an FIR against Bugti, accusing him of kidnapping her granddaughter Maria. She said the court had given her the custody of the girl after the death of her mother.

As per the orders, she brought Maria to the family court for meeting with her father Tawakkal Ali – also nominated in the case – who dragged the girl into the car and took her to the house of Bugti.