Azam Swati, a senator for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), requested post-arrest bail in the contentious tweets case against him. And the Islamabad High Court (IHC) granted it on Monday.
He was granted bail by the IHC in return for a 200,000 rupee bond.
The high court had reserved judgement on Swati’s plea earlier in the day.
After being detained in Islamabad by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for a “campaign of intimidating tweets against state institutions,” including the former chief of the army staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, the senator was imprisoned on November 27.
Son of Swati retracts letter
Today’s session was presided over IHC Chief Justice Amir Farooq, with Swati’s attorney Babar Awan and other PTI figures present.
Usman Swati informed the court that his father had written a letter that he wanted to read with the court’s permission at the beginning of the hearing. Awan stated that Swati’s son wanted to present his perspective to the court.
The letter was in front of the court, according to Justice Farooq, who also insisted that a larger bench would be assembled to finally resolve this issue.
The court responded by stating that a larger bench could not be constituted today, despite Swati’s attorney’s request for the court to look into the situation today.
Usman, in the meantime, retracted the senator’s letter of distrust directed at the IHC chief judge. Awan said before the court that he was told to retract the letter after being granted time for counsel.
Arshad Mehmood Kayani, the deputy attorney general (DAG), informed the court that the special prosecutor was not present. The IHC CJ responded that the prosecutor was unnecessary because the FIA was the party at issue.
During his arguments, attorney Awan insisted that the high courts of Sindh and Balochistan had dismissed the senator’s cases. He also presented the first informant report (FIR) to the court. And claimed that this was the first time he had ever seen a FIR without the time and location of the incident being indicated.
Swati asks a plea transfer and “distrusts” the IHC CJ.
The attorney responded in the yes when the chief justice asked if Awan was saying that the standard operating procedures (SOPs) were not followed.
“Where will the fair trial come from when there has been no due process in this case?” Asked Awan.
The attorney went on to say that the FIA’s SOPs would be considered in accordance with the court orders issued in the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) case. Until someone is found guilty, there is “no good or evil in the eyes of the law,” he continued.
Kayani asked for extra time for his arguments throughout the hearing.
The position of the challan was another question the court had. The FIA responded to this by asserting that the challan was submitted on December 24, 2022. And the hearing would take place on January 3.
According to the DAG, Swati had committed this crime a second time and was the subject of an active investigation.
The court said that the FIA had the actual physical remand when the agency claimed that Swati had not turned up his Twitter account.
The IHC further questioned FIA representatives about any interference with Swati’s account. According to the agency, the senator did not dispute sending the tweet.
The court later postponed making a decision about Azam Swati’s bail request.