The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday granted bail to ex-senator Faisal Raza Abidi in two cases related to defamation of Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar. A division bench of IHC comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb announced the verdict which it had reserved earlier after hearing concluding judgments of both the parties.
The IHC dual bench granted bail to Abidi on medical grounds against surety bonds worth of Rs 100,000. In this matter, the court had previously directed the administration of Pakistan Institution of Medical Sciences (PIMS) to constitute a medical board to ascertain the health of the former senator.
The court had observed that it would decide the bail plea in the light of report of the medical board. Abidi approached IHC to seek bail on medical grounds as the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Islamabad had earlier turned down the application of former senator seeking bail after arrest the prosecutor adopted that the accused had in an interview aired on a private television channel tried to blackmail the top judge. However, the counsel for Abidi contended before the court that there was nothing on record showing his client had threatened any member of the judiciary. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had booked Faisal Raza under Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016.
According to the FIR registered against the former senator, Abidi with criminal intent and ulterior motives and without lawful justification had used sarcastic, derogatory, disrespectful and defamatory language against the chief justice. It said his remarks were tantamount to creating a sense of fear, panic and insecurity among the government, general public and society.
It said that Abidi was prima facie guilty of offences punishable under sections 10(a), 11 and 20 of PECA, read with sections 109 and 509 of the PPC.
Abidi is also facing other FIRs registered at Secretariat police station under PPC's sections 228, 500, 505(ii) and 34, along with the ATA, in response to a complaint lodged by SC public relations officer Shahid Hussain Kambyo for using threatening language and levelling allegations against government institutions and individuals holding the highest constitutional posts.
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