The Islamabad High Court on Monday granted one day protective bail to former Senator Faisal Raza Abidi in a case pertaining to use of defamatory language against Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar. A single bench of the IHC comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani heard the petition of Abidi and granted him one day protective bail directing him to appear before the trial court in this matter.
The federal capital police on September 21 had registered a case against Abidi for using derogatory and defamatory language and levelling baseless allegations against the government institutions.
The case was registered at the Secretariat police station under PPC's sections 505, 506 and section 7 of ATA 1997 on a complaint lodged by Supreme Court Public Relations Officer Shahid Hussain Kambyo. According to the FIR, in a video, which vent viral on social media, the accused used highly abusive, contemptuous, and threatening language against state institutions. The former senator has been accused of levelling accusations against individuals holding the highest constitutional posts.
Abidi in his petition stated that the allegations mentioned in the FIR are baseless as he has not committed any offence and he has been involved due to grudge of the "high-ups".
He added that the applicant is innocent and has falsely been involved in the above matter due to grudge and annoyance. According to the petitioner, there are a large number of police officials outside the court of ATC, where entry is subject to identification and search and as such, the applicant would be arrested if he went there for obtaining bail before arrest.
"If protective bail is not granted, the life and honor of the applicant shall suffer and applicant shall also lose his reputation in the eye of general public," he said.
Therefore, he prayed to the court to grant him protective bail for a period of 15 days as he shall be able to obtain the certified copies of documents from the Supreme Court and other departments related to the case.