The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to Pashtun Tahafuz Movemenet (PTM) lawmaker Ali Wazir, with his bail petition being accepted after spending more than 11 months in custody.
The apex court bench, headed by Justice Tariq Masood and comprising Justice Jamal Mandokhel and Justice Aminudin Khan, granted the bail to the NA-50 lawmaker. Wazir had moved the top court against the Sindh High Court’s judgement earlier this year which dismissed his bail application.
Police had arrested Wazir in Peshawar on Dec 16, 2020, at the request of the Sindh police and flew him to Karachi.
The PTM lawmaker, who was elected as an independent member of National Assembly (MNA) from South Waziristan in the 2018 elections, was arrested on the charges of “making insulting and incendiary speeches” against the state institutions at a PTM protest rally in Karachi on Dec 6, 2020.
An FIR was lodged against him the following day at the Sohrab Goth police station.
The decision was welcomed by political leaders including Wazir's fellow lawmaker Mohsin Dawar.
“#Congratulations Bench headed by Justices Tariq Masood, Jamal Mandokhel and Aminudin Khan of the Supreme Court have granted bail to Ali Wazir. Ali has remained in prison for over 11 months for a speech. It took a long time but glad that Ali will be out on bail. #ThanksLala,” it read.
Following this, another PTM leader Manzoor Pashteen also shared his reaction on Twitter and hoped for the release of other party leaders.
“Finally, Ali Wazir [was] granted bail by the SC. He remained incarcerated for more than a year on politically motivated charges in Karachi prison. Hope that Hanif & Owaisl will also be released soon. Thanks to all pol. parties, Lawyers, journalists &everyone who raised voice for Ali,” it read.
The Supreme Court bench, which had transferred the bail plea of PTM leader Ali Wazir to another bench, was scheduled to hear the same appeal on Tuesday, Dawn reported.
According to the story, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, who headed the three-judge bench that ordered the transfer, observed on Monday that the case was “inadvertently fixed” for hearing before a different bench.
Under the previous schedule, the appeal was due for hearing by a bench headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Monday.
A notice issued by the Supreme Court office stated that the case fixed before the three-judge bench under Justice Bandial had been delisted because Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, a member of the bench, was not available for the hearing.
Mohsin Dawar appeared before the bench of Justice Sardar Tariq Masood on Monday and was told that the case was fixed before a different bench by mistake.
Dawar told the judge that Salahuddin Khan Gandapur, the counsel for Wazir, was out of Islamabad too. The hearing was adjourned till Tuesday on the PTM chief’s request.
Taking to Twitter, Dawar had shared the top court notice that was scheduled for November 26 was adjourned till November 29. It read that the case had now been delisted by the SC late last night.
“The hearing of Ali Wazir’s case scheduled for 26th November was adjourned till today. The case has now been delisted by the SC late last night. The hearing is not taking place today. Ali's persecution continues. Shameful how an elected representative is being denied justice,” it read.
Dawar has been a vocal opponent of Wazir's detention and often brought it up in National Assembly proceedings.
On November 18, he protested not summoning Wazir in the joint session of Parliament, lamenting that the speaker of the National Assembly did not issue his production order.
Dawar also said it was unfair that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) and the Indian spy Kulbushan Jadhav were being released but an MNA was being unfairly kept in custody.
Wazir's case has attracted a lot of attention on social media with many people taking to Twitter to demand his release.
At a recent rally held in Quetta, thousands of protestors also called for his release according to PTM leader Manzoor Pashteen.
