An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore on Saturday granted bail to several leaders of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) in multiple cases registered against them.

ATC Judges Ijaz Ahmed Butter and Hussain Bhutta separately conducted the hearings on the bail applications of more than 20 cases that were clubbed together.

The cases were filed against the TLP members at different police stations in Lahore under sections related to terrorism.

The cases were registered after violent clashes between the police and TLP workers last month in Lahore during which at least six policemen were killed and hundred others were injured.

Some of the leaders granted bail include Ghulam Ghaus Baghdadi, Pir Zahirul Hassan, Maulana Sharifuddin, Engineer Hafeezullah Alvi, and others. They have been directed to submit surety bonds of Rs100,000 each.

Last week, the Punjab government had released more than 1,000 workers of the party. The release came a day after Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan held two back-to-back steering committee meetings in Lahore to review measures of how the government could go ahead and implement the secret agreement with the TLP.

Meanwhile, on Friday, the Punjab cabinet asked the federal government to end TLP's proscribed status and remove all restrictions imposed on the group.

Earlier, the Punjab home department forwarded a summary to Provincial Chief Minister Usman Buzdar for the revocation of the TLP's proscribed status.

The move comes barely days after the government had declared the banned TLP a "militant organisation" for creating unrest in the country after a series of violent clashes.

This article first appeared in Business Recorder on 6 Nov 2021.