PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Friday granted transit bail to leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh until June 25 in two cases of rioting and violence registered in Karachi during the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s last month Azadi March on Islamabad.

Justice Roohul Amin Khan of a single-member bench accepted two petitions of Mr Sheikh on condition of furnishing two surety bonds of Rs500,000 each.

He directed the petitioner to appear before the relevant Karachi court by June 25.

As the lawyers were on strike, the petitioner appeared the court and said he along with other PTI leaders was named in two ‘politically-motivated’ cases.

He feared that he would be arrested by Karachi police on return from Peshawar.

PHC asks him to appear before relevant Karachi court by 25th

Mr Sheikh requested the court to grant him transit/protective bail to enable him to appear before the relevant court in Karachi.

Last month, a case was registered against Mr Sheikh on the charge of grabbing land.

However, the Islamabad High Court granted him protective bail until June 6. He again moved the IHC seeking protective bail in the Azadi March-related cases but the latter rejected the plea on June 8 prompting him to approach the PHC.

The Azadi March-related cases are mostly registered under different sections of Pakistan Penal Code, including Section 353 (assault to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), Section 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), Section 427 (mischief causing damage to currency), Section 506 (criminal intimidation) Section 147 (punishment for rioting), Section 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed), Section 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public function) and Section 188 (disobedience to order promulgated by public servant).

The high court has already granted transit bail to PTI chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mehmood Khan, provincial minister Shahram Khan Tarakai, former governor Shah Farman and former federal minister Ali Amin Gandapur.

In petitions, Mr Sheikh said the concocted and politically-motivated FIRs had been registered against him.

Meanwhile, Mr Sheikh told reporters on the premises of the high court that the Sindh government had registered concocted cases against him to victimise him as the opposition leader.

He claimed that former president Asif Ali Zardari, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari wanted to kill him and if any harm was inflicted on him and his family, they would be responsible of it.

The opposition leader claimed that in past when he was behind bars, a snake was left in his prison cell to kill him but he remained unharmed.

He alleged that the Sindh government had committed massive corruption and when he pointed it out, bids were being made to eliminate him.

Published in Dawn,June 11th, 2022