LAHORE: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Tuesday rejected the interim bail pleas of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Farrukh Habib and Asad Umar in a case related to vandalism at the Federal Judicial Complex (FJC) on the day when former premier Imran Khan appeared before Judge Zafar Iqbal in the Toshakhana case.
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Other PTI leaders including Dr Yasmin Rashid, Mian Aslam Iqbal, and Zubair Khan Niazi appeared before the court. During the hearing, the court asked the police about the investigation’s progress, to which the police responded that the accused had not joined the investigation as yet.
On this occasion, lawyer representing PTI leaders contended that a new JIT had been formed to initiate the investigation therefore, his clients could not join the police’s investigation process. The court replied that the JIT had yet to be constituted and directed PTI leaders to join the investigation process.
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Meanwhile, the ATC rejected the interim bail pleas of Asad Umar and Farrukh Habib for failing to appear in the court, and extended the interim bail of Yasmin Rashid, Mian Aslam, and Zubair Niazi until April 7.
The court also quashed a request filed by the counsel for Asad Umar to exempt the PTI leader from appearing in court. The Shadman police had booked the PTI leaders for vandalism, arson, and committing violence.