Islamabad: Due to the leave of the judge of the special court in the cipher case, the hearing on the bail application of Chairman PTI was postponed.
The hearing on the bail application of Chairman PTI and Shah Mehmood Qureshi in the Official Secret Act Special Court was not held today due to the leave of Judge Abul Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain. The court had called for arguments from the parties today, but according to the court staff, Judge Abul Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain is on leave till Friday. It should be noted that Chairman PTI is in Attock Jail while Shah Mehmood Qureshi is in Adiala Jail.
As Judge Abul Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain was on leave, Duty Judge Raja Jawad Abbas Hasan heard the case, in which Babar Awan, Salman Safdar, Shoaib Shaheen appeared. Babar Awan said that you are the duty judge, we request you to hear the post-arrest bail application, on which Judge Raja Jawad Hassan Abbas said that I am not the duty judge, you talk and then I will tell you.
Duty Judge Raja Jawad Abbas Hasan said that this is a case of Official Secrets Act and I do not have the jurisdiction of this court. If you want me to listen, you will have to get an order from the High Court. There are 24 courts that I have jurisdiction over, these 24 courts do not include the Official Secrets Act Court.
Babar Awan said that according to the law, the judge is not on leave. You place the order and we will act accordingly. The judge said that if you want to file a bail application with me, then of course do. Babar Awan replied that we will file a petition before the court after consultation.
Later, an application was filed before the duty judge on behalf of Chairman PTI for hearing the bail application, in which it was held that the bail application can be heard by the duty judge.
During the hearing, the FIA prosecutor asked how they can file a petition in this court, to which the PTI lawyers replied that as a duty judge, you can hear the petition. The assistant lawyer said that if you say that I have no authority, I am forced, then we will go to the High Court.
Judge Raja Jawad Abbas said that you do not know me, otherwise you would not have used the word forced, because I am not forced.
Barrister Salman Safdar said that the duty judge can reject bail for non-compliance, so why can’t the duty judge hear it now?, on which the court said that if there was a notification that the duty judge could hear due to the leave of the judge, then they would have heard it. . Barrister Salman Safdar said that you should write that you cannot hear this case.
Later, the court issued a notice to hear the petition of chairman PTI by 12 noon, the court called for the arguments of the duty judge regarding the hearing of the bail plea in the cipher case.
Barrister Salman Safdar argued that our request should be heard by a judge. It is a question of fundamental rights. The hearing on the bail application was adjourned due to the filing of a writ petition in the High Court on the previous hearing. That is a different matter. The objection of the prosecutor was not understood as to why the bail could not be heard. Judge Abulhasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain is on long leave. This bail is a post-arrest matter. If the court cannot give a decision, then where do we go?
Special Prosecutor Rizwan Abbasi said that we will support the court on this request. It is not correct to give the same impression every time. There are ordinary people in jails. If the judge was on leave, would he have heard this request? Or the law is different for common people.
The court adjourned the hearing, after which the hearing resumed, lawyer Salman Safdar requested the court staff to keep the hearing of the cipher case on Thursday. Later, the court adjourned the hearing on the bail application in the cipher case till September 7.
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