PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday reserved its verdict on a series of petitions filed by senior PTI figures — including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, MNA Asad Qaiser and former KP chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur — seeking protective bail and access to details of cases registered against them.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Faheem Wali heard the petitions. During the proceedings, the court approved a request by Prosecutor General Islamabad Ghulam Sarwar Nihung for the formation of a larger bench, referring all applications to the PHC chief justice for placement before the bench. The petitioners’ existing bail was also extended.
At the outset, the petitioners’ counsels emphasised that their clients were seeking nothing more than information. Advocate Babar Asif said cases had been registered against the petitioners and the authorities were bound to provide the details.
Nihung, however, expressed concern that repeated applications for protective bail by some petitioners were hampering investigations. He argued that several of the individuals had been on protective bail for nearly a year, and urged the court to consolidate the cases before a single forum. Justice Ali questioned how such consolidation could be done when the prosecution had already provided partial details.
The defence lawyers countered by highlighting practical obstacles in accessing case records. Advocate Bashir Wazir, representing the KP chief minister, said investigators informed them of multiple FIRs, but when they approached the relevant offices, they were told that files were sealed and unavailable. He maintained that the petitioners had consistently appeared before courts whenever case information was provided.
Justice Ali pressed the prosecutor general for clarity on the number of FIRs in which the petitioners had been nominated. Nihung responded that the prosecution did not have complete data. Barrister Waqar, representing Asad Qaiser, assured the bench that the petitioners were ready to join investigations, provided they were told that no additional undisclosed cases existed against them.
Clarifying the limits of the court’s authority, Justice Ali observed that the PHC could only provide details of cases registered in Islamabad, and petitioners would need to approach relevant provincial courts for information on cases elsewhere. He added that the court would grant bail but the petitioners must seek relief in provincial courts regarding FIRs registered outside Islamabad.
The court subsequently reserved its verdict.
