SHC grants MNA Ali Wazir bail in hate speech case

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday granted Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leader and Member National Assembly Ali Wazir bail in a hate speech case filed against him at a Karachi police station.

A two-member bench led by Justice Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro granted the jailed MNA from South Waziristan bail and ordered him to deposit an Rs0.5 million surety bond.

During the hearing, Salahuddin Gandapur, Wazir’s lawyer, maintained that the co-accused in the case MNA Mohsin Dawar was being considered for the post of a federal minister while his client was imprisoned for being “anti-state.” The lawyer’s statements made Justice Kalhoro smile.

The SHC judge ordered the police to release the transcript of Ali Wazir’s “provocative” speech. He questioned how a person like police constable Manzoor, who cannot understand Pashto, could claim that the speech incited hatred against the army and the state.

The judge then queried about Dawar, questioning why the other defendants in the case had not been apprehended.

Read more: NA Speaker issues production orders for MNA Ali Wazir 

According to the investigative officer, the police were unable to arrest Dawar because they need the authorization of the National Assembly Speaker before doing so. “Ali Wazir was already incarcerated in a case filed at the Sohrab Goth police station,” the IO claimed, adding that the politician was detained in the Shah Latif Town case while incarcerated.

Wazir’s counsel claimed that after the SC granted him bail in the Sohrab Goth case, his client was arrested in another case.

Meanwhile, MNA Mohsin Dawar said in a tweet, “Sindh High Court has granted bail to
@Aliwazirna50 in the Shah Lateef Town case today which is great news for all of us. Ali’s bail in one more case is to be heard in ATC tomorrow. We are hoping for the courts to do justice and hope he will be granted bail by the ATC.”

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Sindh High Court has granted bail to @Aliwazirna50 in the Shah Lateef Town case today which is great news for all of us. Ali's bail in one more case is to be heard in ATC tomorrow. We are hoping for the courts to do justice and hope he will be granted bail by the ATC.

— Mohsin Dawar (@mjdawar) May 11, 2022