Police Attack Case: LHC Grants Bail To 93 PAT Workers

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Jul, 2020 ) :A Lahore High Court (LHC) division bench on Tuesday suspended sentence of 93 Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) workers, convicted for attacking police at Bhera interchange Sargodha in August 2014, and ordered to release them on bail.

The division headed by Justice Sardar Ahmad Naeem heard the bail petitions filed by Najam Saqib and others.

The defence counsel argued before the court that a trial court had awarded five years jail term to the said PAT workers for attacking the police at the Bhera interchange on motorway in the Sargodha area in 2014.

He contended that the charges levelled against the workers were baseless. He submitted that the workers were coming from different cities to attend Qul of Model Town victims when the police stopped them and subjected them to torture and also registered case against them.

He further submitted that it was alleged that a mob of six thousand persons attacked the police then how it could be determined that the only 107 convicts attacked the police.

He submitted that the trial court failed to appreciate case facts and convicted them in violation of law.

He submitted that the LHC had already granted bail to 13 convicts in the same case, after suspending their sentence.

He pleaded with the court to grant benefit of bail to the petitioners after suspending their convict. The court was apprised that appeal against conviction was pending.

However, the prosecution opposed the plea, saying that solid evidence was available against the convicts.

The bench after hearing detailed arguments, suspended the sentence and ordered the release on bail.

On April 19, 2019, an ATC in Sargodha sentenced 107 workers, including petitioners, of PAT. The ATC had set 157 of the PAT workers free for lack of evidence.

It may be mentioned that a mob, travelling to Islamabad to participate in the party protest in Aug 2014, had clashed with police at the Bhera interchange on motorway in the Sargodha area and injuries were reported on both sides. The Sargodha division police had booked around 300 PAT workers for attacking the police and damaging public and private properties under the anti-terrorism laws.