Bail granted to engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza

By Nadir Baloch

RAWLPINDI: The Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench has approved the bail petition of religious scholar Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza in a blasphemy case.

The court granted bail to engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza against two surety bonds of Rs5 lac each as part of the surety condition.

The LHC Judge Sadaqat Ali Khan ruled the petition through Advocate Hafiz Tahir Ayubi.

Earlier, Muhammad Ali Mirza had challenged the decision of the Sessions Court, saying that the lower court had not properly considered the documents and facts submitted to them.

In response to this, the high court accepted the petition and approved the bail.

In early hours of the ruling, Umair Qadri, who was complainant of the case, requested the court to postpone the hearing as he wanted to change his lawyer.

In reply, Judge Sadaqat Ali Khan said that a decision on this request would be delivered today.

After a brief half-hour break, the hearing resumed at 12:15 PM, during which Umair Qadri’s lawyers presented their arguments.

Following the hearing, the court suspended the Sessions Court’s decision and granted bail to Muhammad Ali Mirza accordingly.

Mirza was arrested on August 26 and detained under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO), 1960. Commonly referred to as 3-MPO, this provision allows the government to order the arrest and detention of an individual to prevent actions that may threaten public safety or disturb public order.