
The Peshawar High Court granted protective bail to Opposition Leader in the Senate Shibli Faraz and PTI MNA Zartaj Gul Wazir on Wednesday until August 11.
The ECP on Tuesday disqualified the Senate and National Assembly opposition leaders, Sunni Ittehad Council chief Hamid Raza and other PTI lawmakers following their convictions in cases related to the May 9 riots.
On May 9, 2023, PTI supporters, protesting the party founder Imran Khan’s arrest, staged violent protests throughout the country, vandalising military installations and state-owned buildings, while also attacking the Lahore corps commander’s residence. Following the riots, thousands of protesters, including party leaders, were arrested.
An anti-terrorism court in Faisalabad last week sentenced over PTI 100 leaders and workers to jail terms of up to 10 years in connection with the riots. Faraz, Zartaj Gul and Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan were among those awarded rigorous imprisonment.
During today’s hearing on Faraz and Gul’s bail applications, the PHC issued a reserved verdict awarding them protective bail until August 11.
“The court orders Zartaj Gul Wazir and Shibli Faraz to appear before the concerned High Court (PHC) by August 11 and file an appeal,” the bench directed.
Meanwhile, Faraz and Ayub filed writ petitions with the PHC contesting the ECP’s disqualification order, branding it “unconstitutional” and “illegal”.
“In the case of Omar Ayub and Shibli Faraz, the speaker of the National Assembly did not send them a reference and the Election Commission disqualified them based on the convictions,” Bashir Khan Wazir, a lawyer for the PTI leaders, argued in the petition.
“The Election Commission’s order is unconstitutional and illegal and cannot disqualify members without the speaker’s reference.”
A day prior, Ayub lambasted the ATC’s “bogus verdict” in a post on X, saying that he would contest it and the ECP’s disqualification in court.
He also posted a video of himself at the PHC with other PTI leaders and lawyers, saying the court had given him a few days and bail would be granted to him on filing his appeal.