The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday granted interim bail to Balochistan Assembly Opposition Leader Yar Muhammad Rind in an abduction case registered against him in 2009 in Quetta.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry heard a review petition filed by Rind against a judgment of the Quetta Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in which he had been awarded life-imprisonment in absentia in an abduction case.
The court admitted Rind’s bail plea against surety bonds of Rs 500,000, and ordered the Secretariat Police to release the accused. Hours after the court’s order, the Islamabad Police received photocopies of Rind’s arrest warrants in four other cases registered against him in Balochistan; however, the police did not entertain them, saying it could not rely on photocopies.
Rind, a leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), was arrested on Friday from the Supreme Court building, where he had came to file plea against the ATC’s decision. His son Sardar Khan Rind, and others including Sabzal Khan, Mohammad Yusuf, Allah Dina, Wali Mohammad and Din Mohammad were also nominated as accused in the case.
On Friday, the SC asked Rind to surrender to authorities before applying for bail. Upon this, he surrendered himself before the apex court, which ordered the Secretariat Police to arrest him in connection with the case registered against him in 2009 in Balochistan.
During the course of Monday’s hearing, Rind’s counsel Tariq Mahmood told the apex court that cases filed against his client included possession of illegal weapons and attempted murder. The lawyer requested the court to order transferring cases against Rind from Balochistan, as his client could not appear before the courts in Balochistan due to security reasons.
The court issued notices to Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Muhammad Aslam Raisani and others, and adjourned the hearing until November 19. Rind, his son, and four others were given life imprisonment by the ATC in Quetta for allegedly kidnapping a man, and for failing to appear before the court on June 28, 2011.