An Islamabad district and sessions court on Wednesday granted interim bails to six PTI leaders in a case pertaining to the violation of Section 144 (ban on public gatherings exceeding four persons) in the capital during the party’s rally on August 20.

PTI leaders Saifullah Niazi, Ali Awan, Raja Khurram, Faisal Javed, Sadaqat Abbasi, and Shahzad Waseem approached the court earlier today.

During the hearing today, the applicants’ lawyers contended that the case booked against them was “baseless” and all the sections in the first information report (FIR) were bailable.

The entire country witnessed that the rally was peaceful, they argued, adding that the case had only been registered to suppress their clients.

The lawyers subsequently pleaded that the PTI leaders be granted bail.

Subsequently, Additional Sessions Court Judge Faizan Haider Gilani granted them interim bail against surety bonds of Rs20,000 and instructed the PTI leaders to appear before the court on September 9.

Last week, Imran had urged the public to take to the streets against Gill’s arrest and the revoking of the license of ARY News. Soon after, the police had imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

However, despite the restrictions, a large number of residents had come out to attend the rally led by the PTI chief. The procession had started from Zero Point and reached F-9 Park, where Imran addressed his supporters.

On Monday, a first information report (FIR) was registered against PTI chairman Imran Khan and other top party leaders for holding a gathering despite a ban.

The FIR

The complaint, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, was registered on August 22 at the Aabpara police station under sections 109 (punishment of abetment if the Act abetted committed In consequence and where no express provision is made for its punishment), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The complaint, filed by Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Muhammad Anwar, also included section 2 (restriction on the use of loudspeakers) of the Control of Loudspeaker and Sound Amplifiers Act, 1965.

Murad Saeed, Faisal Javed Khan, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Asad Umar, Raja Khurram Nawaz, Ali Nawaz Awan, Faisal Vawda, Shahzad Wasim, Sadaqat Ali Abbasi, Shibli Faraz, Fawad Chaudhry, Saifullah Khan Niazi, Shehryar Afridi, Fayyazul Hasan Chohan, Firdous Shamim Naqvi, Asad Qaiser, Zaheer Abbas Khokar and Major Ghulam Sarwar were the other PTI leaders nominated in the FIR.

According to the complaint, approximately 1,000 to 1,200 PTI supporters had gathered near Islamabad’s Zero Point Interchange “on orders of Imran” and carried the party’s flags.

“They were chanting slogans demanding Shahbaz Gill’s release,” the ASI said, alleging that they “scared and threatened” the residents by blocking the road.

He stated that commuters were stopped from passing through the area, which disrupted their daily activities. “The rally’s participants, while using loudspeakers, chanted anti-government slogans.”

The FIR added that during the rally, the Islamabad police had made announcements via loudspeakers that Section 144 had been imposed in the city and a ban had been imposed on rallies.

However, it went on, that the PTI leaders turned a deaf ear to the police and led the supporters to the F-9 park, all the while sloganeering on loudspeakers.