Kashmiri poet Ahmed Farhad Shah was released on Friday after the Azad Jammu and Kashmir High Court granted him bail and ordered his release if he was not wanted in any other case.
He was arrested on charges related to a case filed in Dheerkot, Azad Kashmir.
The court ordered Farhad’s release on bail after he submitted a surety bond of Rs200,000. AJK Chief Justice Sadakat Hussain Raja issued the order for his release.
The written order said that it remained to be determined whether Shah had committed any of the charges or allegations against him. “These allegations are all contingent upon the presentation of crime,” the order said.
“It is essential to emphasise that law could not be stretched in favour either of the defence or the prosecution for purpose of bail and it is settled principle of law that bail could not be withheld as punishment and in case where the court would feel that it was a case of further inquiry,” it said and set aside the ATC’s June 4 order.
Farhad was initially remanded to Rara Jail until June 24 by the Anti-Terrorism Court in Muzaffarabad on June 10. He was presented before the court after his remand period ended, and the police submitted an incomplete charge sheet.
The court subsequently ordered his transfer to Raara Jail until June 24, with instructions to reappear before the court on that date.
Previously, on June 4, the Anti-Terrorism Court in Muzaffarabad had rejected Farhad’s bail application.
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The case against Farhad stems from his alleged abduction on May 16. A case was registered in Lohi Bheer Police Station in Islamabad regarding his disappearance.
On May 29, the federal government revealed that Farhad had been apprehended during a hearing in the Islamabad High Court.
On the same day, a First Information Report (FIR) was filed against Farhad in Dheerkot Police Station, Azad Kashmir.
