ATC grants protective bail to Mirza

Karachi
An anti-terrorism court granted protective bail to former home minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza on Saturday till May 19 against a surety of Rs100,000 in each of the three cases he faces.
The three cases pertain to the charges of attempting murder, threatening government officials and ransacking their offices and creating a law and order situation.
These cases have been registered under sections 324, 395 H, 427, 506, 149, 148, 147 of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. The complainants include Badin Additional SHO Wali Muhammad Chandio, Haj Muhammad and Imtiaz Ali.
Those booked Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 that deals with terrorist activities are not usually granted bail.
But the law empowers presiding officers to exercise their special powers to grant protective or interim bail to any accused.
The special public prosecutor argued that Mirza did not deserve to be granted bail as he was involved in the ransacking of a police station in the Badin district and had also tried to create law and order situation. It was also highlighted that Mirza has been booked in two other cases of attempted murder and obstructing public servants from performing their duties. However, the court rejected his stance.
Earlier, Mirza reached the court amid tight security along with his supporters carrying national flags.
Later, Mirza is his typical while, starched cotton shalwar qameez and a traditional Sindhi cap, spoke to his supporters. He said it was the victory of law and justice that he was granted bail in the fake cases lodged against him.
Over 300 policemen were deployed around the building of the Sindh Secretariat where anti-terrorism courts are located.
Even reporters were also not allowed to enter the premises of the courts over security reasons.