ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court decided that as the individuals accused of being part in the violence on May 9 of last year had already been taken into custody the day after the mayhem, the evidence in the record was insufficient to keep them detained indefinitely.
“The accusations made against the petitioners are broad-based.
In granting bail to the five suspects in an attack on Rawalpindi’s Hamza Camp related to the May 9 unrest sparked by the first arrest of PTI founding chairman Imran Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail wrote, “Fortunately, none was injured in the incident nor admittedly any arm or ammunition was recovered from the possession of the petitioners.”
In order to determine the petitioners’ role in the offenses committed, a thorough investigation and more research are necessary. It said, “This fact can only be ascertained once the trial court records the evidence.
The five suspects were granted bail on March 20 by a three-judge bench presided over by Justice Mandokhail.
The Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court had earlier denied them bail.
These five accused were granted bail, but under the 16 MPO (Punjab Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960), they were taken into custody again.
The Supreme Court judges voiced grave concerns about the way their ruling granting bail was being reversed on Wednesday while deliberating a suo motu case.
It will be fascinating to observe what actions the SC takes to guarantee that its order is carried out in this case.
The court’s judgment granting bail to the five May 9 suspects also stated that more research was necessary in this matter.
“As the petitioners have been in detention since May 10, 2023, preliminary analysis indicates that the evidence in the record is insufficient to withhold them for an indefinite amount of time.”
Furthermore, it was mentioned that, as a matter of consistency, the petitioners were also entitled to the bail since it had previously been granted to a few of the individuals implicated in the violence on May 9.
“The petitioners’ learned counsel has successfully made out a case for the grant of bail, without commenting further on the merits of the case.”
The petitioners were nominated and arrested on May 10 under sections 324, 353, 186, 440, 427, 341, 436, 147, 148, 149, 285 and 286 of the Pakistan Penal Code, according to the case facts lodged at the Rawalpindi police station.
At the Anti-Terrorism Court in Rawalpindi, an interim report under Section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) was presented to the special judge. Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997 and several other clauses were added at the ATC.
The petitioners requested bail, but on October 16, 2023, the trial court denied their request.
The petitioners, feeling wronged, went to the Lahore High Court, but they were unsuccessful. They subsequently submitted pleadings to the highest court.
