Punjab govt asks Supreme Court to cancel bails of May 9 suspects

The Punjab government filed an appeal with the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan Wednesday seeking the cancellation of bail granted to the accused in the May 9 riots, Aaj News reported Wednesday.

There are 57 accused, including PTI Chairman Imran Khan, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Umar Ayub, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, and others, on the list submitted by the provincial government to the Supreme Court.

Physical remand of IK: LHC issues notices to respondents

ATC Rawalpindi judge is named as a party to the petition filed through the Punjab Prosecutor General.

According to the petition, the ATC wrongly granted bail to the accused and demanded that the Supreme Court notify them and revoke their bail.

The Punjab government had previously challenged ATC’s decision in the Lahore High Court, but it was rejected.

This matter has now been referred to a higher court for intervention.

Qureshi, others asked to cross-examine witnesses

In a related development, the Lahore High Court issued notices to the respondents on Tuesday on a petition filed by former PTI Chairman Imran Khan against his physical remand in twelve cases related to the May 9 riots, including an attack on the Corps Commander House.

The court also summoned details of the cases and charges against Imran Khan.

Earlier, counsel of Imran argued that his client was not physically presented before the Anti-Terrorism Court for the remand proceedings. He said the physical remand of his client in his absence was illegal. He, therefore, asked the court to declare the physical remand granted by the ATC as illegal.

The court when asked the counsel if he was requesting that the suspect be presented in the court so he could state his position before the judge he replied in the affirmative.