ATC grants bail to Ali Wazir in fourth sedition case

• ATC announces verdict on Ali Wazir's bail plea after hearing arguments.
• Directs MNA to submit surety of Rs100,000 to secure his bail.
• Case pertains to provocative speeches and treason.

Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) leader and MNA Ali Wazir has secured post-arrest bail from Karachi's Anti-terrorism court (ATC) in a fourth sedition case registered against him, The News reported.

Wazir has been behind bars since December 31, 2020, for allegedly delivering provocative speeches inciting hate against the state institutions and treason. He and some other party leaders were booked in four identical cases registered at Sohrab Goth, Shah Latif Town and Boat Basin police stations under sections of Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) pertaining to the said charges.

During Tuesday's hearing at the judicial complex in Karachi Central Jail, ATC-XII judge announced the verdict on the lawmaker’s bail plea after hearing arguments from the defence and prosecution. He directed the applicant to submit a surety of Rs100,000 to secure his release.

The MNA from South Waziristan has already been granted bail in the other three cases. His lawyer Abdul Qadir Khan said that his client’s release order could not be issued on Tuesday as he was yet to furnish sureties in all the cases.

The present case pertains to Wazir, MNA Mohsin Dawar and others’ speeches against state institutions at a public meeting in a flat within the jurisdiction of the Boat Basin police station in 2018. 

The cases have been registered against him under sections 147 (rioting), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of an offence committed in prosecution of common object), 500 (punishment for defamation), 505 (statement conducing to public mischief), and other sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) read with the Section 7 (Punishment for acts of terrorism) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.