The Lahore High Court has kept its decision reserved on the bail requests of Khadija Shah, a worker of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), in cases related to Jinnah House and Askari tower attacks.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Naeem and Justice Asjad Javaid Ghural took the decision on bail requests of nine accused, including Khadija Shah, while granting bail to two accused, Rohina and Qasim.
During the hearing, the two-member bench remarked that protesting is a part of society’s culture; don’t go into such fine details that may cause difficulty for you in the future. The bench further remarked that when a leader calls, people come out for protest; no one can stop anyone from protesting.
Responding to the court’s inquiry, Special Prosecutor Farhad Shah clarified that Khadija Shah is not named in the FIR; she is accused of chanting slogans against the state.
The special prosecutor also said that after the identification parade, her statement was recorded and on this occasion people continued to incite against the government, Khadija Shah also uploaded pictures from her account.
The court inquired about what is illegal in Khadija Shah’s statement. It is not illegal to say that the honor of mothers and sisters is not being protected.
Upon the court’s inquiry, the government lawyer confirmed that Khadija Shah verified her account herself. The court ordered to check the police file to see if everything is correct, what will be the situation for the whole Punjab, and how things are hidden in some places where cameras are installed.
Khadija Shah’s lawyer Sameer Khosa said that her client was arrested by herself. The two-judge bench convinced the public prosecutor that there is a contradiction in the statement, on the one hand saying that it was learned from social media reports, there is a discrepancy between the SHO’s statement and the time of the riot.
Justice Alia Neelam remarked that the SHO’s statement could not be believed, not mentioning the number of rioters in the FIR. The court also expressed its displeasure for not presenting the relevant records.