The Supreme Court has granted bail to Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) leader Ali Wazir and ordered his release, it was reported on Tuesday.

The ruling was issued by a three-judge bench, headed by Justice Sardar Tariq Masood. Ali Wazir had filed an appeal against the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) judgment earlier this year that dismissed his bail application in a sedition case.

The court observed that the other accused in the case has been granted bail which has not been challenged so the PTM leader could not be kept in jail as well.

Hate speech case: Karachi court sends MNA Ali Wazir on physical remand till Dec 30

The court ordered Wazir to submit surety bonds worth Rs400,000.

ATC indicts Wazir

On November 3, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Karachi indicted MNA Ali Wazir and 10 others in a sedition case pertaining to the delivery of hate speech against state institutions at a rally in Karachi's Sohrab Goth.

Police had booked Ali and several of the party's leaders — including PTM chief Manzoor Pashteen, MNA Mohsin Dawar, Muhammad Shafi and Hidayatullah Pashteen — for sedition, inciting the public to wage war against the state and using derogatory language against security forces at the Sohrab Goth rally on December 6, 2020.

Peshawar police arrest MNA Ali Wazir over anti-state comments

A first information report was registered against the accused on December 7, 2020, wherein the complainant, SHO Riaz Ahmad Bhutto, had said that when he had reached the venue of the rally in Sohrab Goth, he saw the accused addressing around 2,000 participants and trying to create hatred towards different groups and to create law and order situation.

The SHO had said that some of the suspects used derogatory language against security forces, police, Rangers and other state institutions.