An anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi has cancelled the interim bail of 16 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders and workers, including Raja Basharat, Sanam Javed, Mishal Yousafzai, and Nadia Khattak, over cases related to the protest held on November 26. Journalist Sami Ibrahim is also among those whose bail has been revoked.
The hearing on the bail petitions was conducted by Judge Amjad Ali Shah of the anti-terrorism court.
During the hearing, Prosecutor Zaheer Shah told the court that the accused had been misusing the court’s leniency for the past four months by repeatedly failing to appear in court.
He argued that the accused were deliberately obstructing the investigation process and had taken undue advantage of their interim bail.
The prosecutor also presented references to Supreme Court rulings to support his argument, after which the court cancelled the bail of all 16 PTI leaders and workers due to non-compliance.
Those whose bail was cancelled include former provincial minister Raja Basharat, Sanam Javed, Mishal Yousafzai, Simabiya Tahir, Taimoor Masood, Fahad Masood, Saad Ali Khan, Raja Nasir Mahfooz, Javed Kausar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Nadia Khattak, Umar Tanveer Butt, Babar Lodhi, Nisar Khan, Abdul Waheed, and journalist Sami Ibrahim.
The accused face multiple cases registered in various police stations across Rawalpindi and Attock in relation to the November 26 protest.
