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ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the release of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leader and independent MNA Mohammad Ali Wazir with immediate effect.
A three-member bench headed by Justice Sardar Tariq Masood ordered to release Wazir, saying there was no reason to keep him in jail. The court ordered to submit surety bonds of Rs400,000 each. It noted that another suspect in the case had already required bail.
The bail appeal was due for hearing on Monday by a bench headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Monday but was inadvertently fixed for hearing before a different bench.
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 bench member Justice Sajjad Ali Shah was not available for the hearing.
PTM leader Mohsin Dawar appeared before the bench and was told that the case was fixed before a different bench by mistake. Mohsin Dawar told the judge that Salahuddin Khan Gandapur, the counsel for Ali Wazir, was out of Islamabad too.
Ali Wazir was arrested on charges of making incendiary speeches against state institutions at a public meeting in Karachi on December 6 last year. The first information report (FIR) against him was lodged at Sohrab Goth police station the same day.
The MNA pleaded with the apex court to set aside the Sindh High Court order since it was not sustainable under the law. He argued the SHC and the Anti- Terrorism Court (ATC) failed to nominate the witnesses named in the FIR.
The petition recalled that the FIR did not name any independent witness from the area where the public meeting was held. He stated further that he had no criminal history and no cases were pending against him.
