KASUR – The 45 suspects belonging to Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz, who were booked for their contemptuous remarks against the superior judiciary, were released on Thursday after submitting surety bonds worth Rs100,000 each.
Area Magistrate Adil Sarwar Sial granted bail to the accused which also included the local MNA and MPA of the ruling party.
The release came a day after A-Division police arrested 45 activists of PML-N for hurling abuses at judiciary in reaction to the lifetime disqualification of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
On the day of the hearing, scores of party loyalists gathered outside the room of the judge, where the security was already beefed up.
Interestingly, the parliamentarians and local government heads were brought to the court without shackles whereas other workers were handcuffed.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/two-lawmakers-among-70-pml-n-loyalists-booked-for-anti-judiciary-protest-in-kasur/
Two of the suspects – Baitul Mal Chairman Nasir Khan and Market Committee Chairman Jamil Khan – did not show up before the court and it is believed that they were taken to some [undisclosed] location by the law enforcers.
During the hearing, the defense counsel argued that the suspects, except Nasir Khan and Jamil Khan, had not made derogatory remarks against the judiciary and spy agencies, corroborating their claims through the viral video.
The counsel claimed that in a bid to show a maximum number of arrests, the police arrested vendors, passers-by and those who went to the police station to see their relatives.
The magistrate in his judgment observed that the offences were bailable in nature, stating that in case of failure to submit bonds, the suspects would be sent to judicial lock-up and produced before the court on May 3 along with report under section 173 of CrPC.
Meanwhile, the complainant retired major Habibur Rehman did not appear before the court to support the prosecution case, Dawn News reported.
No elected representative of the ruling party from Kasur’s other constituencies turned up in the court to support the [arrested] lawmakers.
