Kot Lakhpat traders get bail

An anti-terrorism court on Monday granted bail to 101 traders of the Kot Lakhpat Fruit and Vegetable Market against surety bonds of Rs 0.1 million each.
The traders, including Abdul Ghafoor and Muhammad Asif, were arrested on July 11 during a protest against the massive operation to vacate market land. During the hearing, traders submitted that they recorded their protest against the illegal operation conducted by the Gulberg Town TMO and others, which caused heavy losses to traders, as their shops and buildings were demolished without allowing them to collect their moveable property, including fruits and vegetables, stocked in godowns.
The traders stated that the said operation was in violation of restraining orders issued by the Lahore High Court (LHC) on March 28. They said that during the operation, staff of the TMO bulldozed their property, shops and businesses. The court, after hearing arguments, granted bail to all arrested traders and directed them to submit surety bonds.
LHC reserves verdict on Tariq Anees eligibility: An election tribunal (ET) of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday reserved its decision on an election petition seeking disqualification of former state minister Tariq Anees, National Assembly Member (MNA) from NA-116 (Narowal-II). The petition was filed by Danial Aziz, a Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) candidate, who lost election against Tariq in 2008.
The petitioner alleged that Anees rigged the election by exercising undue pressure on voters to win the seat from Narowal. Danial said Anees’ men threatened the voters and forced them to cast vote in his favour at gunpoint.
He contended that since the MNA rigged the election, the ET must disqualify him. The ET comprising Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, after hearing the arguments, reserved its decision on the petition.