ATC grants bail to 278 PTI workers in Nov 26 protest cases

ISLAMABAD: The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Islamabad has granted bail to 278 workers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in cases related to November 26 protest.

ATC Judge Abu Al-Hasanat Muhammad Zulqarnain announced a reserved verdict on Friday. The court also rejected bail please of 158 PTI workers.

The ATC has set bail bonds at Rs5,000 for the accused whose bail pleas have been granted.

In total, the ATC announced the verdict on 436 bail applications, related to 13 different cases. Out of these, the bail pleas were granted to 18 accused in Bani Gala case, 43 in Kohsar case, nine in Islamabad Shahzad Town case, 70 in Aabpara case, 30 in I-9 case, 13 in Margalla case, and 17 accused in Noon case. Bails of 25 accused in case of Police Sihala and 30 accused in Police Shams Colony were also approved.

Meanwhile, one accused’s application was dismissed in the case registered at Kohsar police station, 25 in Aabpara, two in Margalla, and 120 accused in two cases of Police Secretariat.

Also read: Nov 24 protest: ATC cancels arrest warrants of KP CM

Earlier, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur’s arrest warrants for the November 24 protest were canceled by the ATC Judge Amjad Ali Shah announced the verdict yesterday (Thursday).

Gandapur’s counsel Mohammad Faisal Malik had filed a petition related to the nonbailable arrest warrants in a Hasan Abdal police station case related to the November 24 protest. The petition argued that the Peshawar High Court had already granted bail to Gandapur in all pending cases. The ATC then cancelled the arrest warrants and also barred the proceedings declaring the chief minister as a proclaimed offender.

Earlier in December 2024, the Anti-Terrorism Court in Rawalpindi had sanctioned a four-day remand physical remand for the 676 people arrested during the same protest. The ruling by the Rawalpindi court followed an extensive hearing that had spanned more than seven hours.

Also read: ‘PTI protest cost Islamabad Police over Rs330 million’

Post protest in November 2024, District Police Officer (DPO) Attock Dr Ghias Gul had vowed to bring all the culprits involved in the ‘violent protest’ to justice. He had said that the Attock Police arrested 700 violent protestors, of whom identity of 89 was being ascertained.

Accusing PTI protestors of targeting security personnel, he had stressed that police officials recovered tear gas shells, masks, batons, and weapons from the protestors when they were fleeing after wrecking havoc on Islamabad, Radio Pakistan thus reported. The DPO said at the hands of this violent mob, 147 police personnel were injured, of whom 25 were in critical condition.