The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday granted an interim pre-arrest bail to Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Qamar Mansoor in 23 cases pertaining to listening and arranging MQM chief’s anti-state and hate speeches.
The MQM coordination committee member, Qamar Mansoor, along with other party leaders was booked in several cases for allegedly facilitating and arranging party leader’s speeches and hateful remarks against the military.
The MQM chief is facing charges of delivering hate speeches against military establishment and other security agencies. While other leaders including Farooq Sattar, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Rehan Hashmi, Rashid Godil, Khawaja Izhar-ul-Hasan and Waseem Akhtar were also named as facilitators of speeches in FIRs.
Over 100 cases have been registered all over the country against MQM Chief Altaf Hussain under the clauses of Pakistan Penal Code and Sections 6 and 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997 for making hateful remarks against the military. On Tuesday, Mansoor, along with his counsel, approached the SHC to obtain the bail.
After hearing the arguments, the SHC bench granted interim bail to Mansoor in 23 cases against the surety bonds of Rs 10,000 in each case. It is pertinent to mention here that Mansoor had remained in Rangers’ custody for 49 days over his alleged involvement in offences which come within the ambit of Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. He was to be detained for 90 days but Rangers released him after 49 days on humanitarian grounds.
