ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has noted that the prosecution has yet to substantiate the allegations of criminal conspiracy against PTI MPA Hafiz Farhat Abbas, emphasizing that the case falls within the scope of further inquiry.
In a four-page order, authored by Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, the court observed during the hearing of the pre-arrest bail plea of the PTI MPA implicated in the May 9 incident, that no recovery had been made from the petitioner and that he had cooperated during the investigation. The court noted that the prosecution had not yet proven the claim of a criminal conspiracy, and the petitioner’s concerns about potential humiliation and harassment upon arrest were valid, given his cooperation.
The order pointed out that, based on a preliminary review of available evidence, the case against the petitioner warranted further inquiry. This was consistent with an earlier ruling in a similar case involving PTI Senator Ejaz Ahmad Chaudhry.
The three-judge bench, led by Justice Afghan, also highlighted that the petitioner had not been named in the FIR registered on May 12, 2023, in connection with the May 9 events. He had been implicated in a supplementary statement filed on June 10, 2023, based on social media posts, including tweets, audio, and video clips. The court ruled that the admissibility and evidentiary value of this supplementary statement and the social media content would be determined at trial.
The bench also referenced the pre-arrest bail granted to co-accused Imtiaz Mehmood, who had been implicated in the same FIR, affirming that, based on the rule of consistency, Hafiz Farhat Abbas was entitled to the confirmation of his ad-interim pre-arrest bail.
The Supreme Court confirmed the pre-arrest bail granted to the petitioner in its earlier order dated April 15, 2025, and directed the petitioner to continue cooperating with any further investigations, as required.
