The sessions court on Wednesday granted post-arrest bail to Captain Muhammad Safdar(r), son-in-law of Nawaz Sharif, in a case of delivering hate and seditious speech. Islampura police had registered a case against Safdar under sections 124-A, 506-B of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and section 16 of Maintenance of Public Order (MPO). Earlier, his counsel Farhad Ali Shah argued that the case was false and frivolous and politically motivated. He said the police failed to comply with the provisions of law before adding the offence of sedition in the case. He argued that the provision of 16 MPO was not attracted in the case and allegation of sedition was not proved as the words alleged in the FIR did not fall within the definition of section 124-A of PPC.

The counsel stated that the case was of further inquiry and hence the petitioner was entitled to the bail. Opposing the bail, a deputy district prosecutor argued that the petitioner was nominated in the FIR and a specific role of delivering a sedition speech had been attributed to him. He said during the investigation the deputy commissioner of Lahore also lodged a complaint, so the due procedure of permission to investigate the offence was adopted. He pointed out that the petitioner remained fugitive for 10 days after the registration of the case and hence he did not deserve for bail. Later in the evening, Safdar was released from the jail.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019