Court bars police from arresting Shehryar Afridi till February 6

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday granted bail to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shehryar Afridi in two cases filed against him in Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

IHC Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani approved the bail of Shehryar Afridi till February 6 and restrained the police from arresting him till then.

The IHC also directed Shehryar Afridi to appear before the relevant court for further legal proceedings.

Shehryar Afridi, who was a member of the National Assembly from NA-32 Kohat, was accused of inciting violence and attacking the installations during the PTI’s protest against the arrest of its chief Imran Khan in May 2023.

He was arrested from his Islamabad residence on May 16 under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance, 1960. He was released and rearrested several times under the same ordinance by the Rawalpindi and Islamabad police.

He challenged his detention orders in the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench, which granted him bail on August 3. However, he was taken into custody again by the Rawalpindi police after his release from Adiala jail. He then filed a petition in the IHC, seeking his release and the revocation of the MPO order.

Earlier, the Election Tribunal of Peshawar High Court declared his nomination papers valid for the upcoming general election.

The Returning Officer (RO) had rejected his nomination papers from NA-35 and PK-92 Kohat on the grounds of his involvement in criminal cases. He had appealed against the RO’s decision in the Election Tribunal, which accepted his appeal and cleared him to contest the elections.