PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court while extending the protective bail of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has ordered that he should not be arrested in any registered case till November 27.
The hearing was conducted by a division bench comprising Justice Ijaz Anwar and Justice Waqar Ahmed, however, the detailed proceedings of the case could not proceed due to the lawyers’ strike.
The court directed the concerned parties to re-present the complete details of the cases registered against the Chief Minister in various cities especially Islamabad. The court remarked that it is necessary to reveal the exact list and nature of the cases, as the petitioner has taken the stand that he does not know in which FIRs and what charges have been made against him.
The Chief Minister’s lawyer told the court that cases are registered against Sohail Afridi in several areas and his client should be provided with the details of the cases so that he can approach the relevant courts. The lawyer said that without the details of the cases, neither legal proceedings are possible nor can the courts be approached.
The court adjourned the hearing with the assurance that details of the cases would be provided by the next date, and in the meantime, the ban on arresting Chief Minister Sohail Afridi in any case would remain in place.
The matter came to light in the context of cases registered against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi in various cities and the fear of possible arrest in them. In the recent political environment, due to tension between the provincial government and federal institutions, cases are being registered one after another against the highest-ranking official in the province under PECA and other types of charges.
Sohail Afridi maintains that he is not being provided with complete information about the number and nature of the cases, due to which he is unable to formulate his legal strategy. This is why he approached the Peshawar High Court to obtain protective bail, so that he can be protected from immediate arrest and can appear in the relevant courts and present his case.
During the court proceedings, it also came to light that political pressure is increasing on Sohail Afridi as the head of the provincial government, while the police and investigative agencies are pursuing several cases against him. Some of the cases involve defamation of state institutions, inflammatory statements and other allegations, on which the Chief Minister’s legal team says that these cases are politically motivated.
The sensitivity of the situation can also be gauged from the fact that the court has sought complete details of the cases from the authorities several times so far, but clear information could not be presented before the court. In such circumstances, protective bail has become an important legal support for Sohail Afridi, through which he can work on his legal strategy while at least temporarily being protected from the threat of arrest.
Read also: PHC bars arrest of KP CM Sohail Afridi until nov 18
