- An anti-corruption court granted post-arrest bail to Dost Muhammad Mazari
- Mazari was granted bail subject to the furnishing of two surety bonds of Rs100,000 each
- He was arrested on Oct 29 and remained in the custody of the ACE till Nov 4
LAHORE: An anti-corruption court on Thursday granted post-arrest bail to former deputy speaker of Punjab Assembly Dost Muhammad Mazari in a case of alleged illegal allotment of 2,500 kanal land in Rajanpur district.
Representing Mazari, Advocate Farhad Ali Shah argued before the court that his client had been implicated in a false case purely on political consideration. He said the Multan bench of the Lahore High Court had already suspended the inquiry wherein the ACE arrested Mazari. He said the act of the ACE amounted to contempt of court.
He said the prosecution accused the petitioner of stealing the land record whereas all the record was available with the ACE.
He said the assistant commissioner of Rojhan prepared a bogus report in back dates against the petitioner. However, he said, the deputy commissioner of Rajanpur rejected the bogus report of the assistant commissioner.
The counsel asked the court to release the petitioner on bail.
ACE prosecutor Muhammad Dar opposed the bail saying the incriminating evidence was available against the petitioner. He said the petitioner was involved in the illegal occupation of the state land.
After hearing the arguments from the defence and prosecution, Presiding Judge Khalid Mahmood Bhatti allowed the bail petition of Mazari subject to the furnishing of two surety bonds of Rs100,000 each.
Mazari was arrested on Oct 29 and remained in the custody of the ACE till Nov 4 when a judicial magistrate sent him on judicial remand.
Dost Mazari, being the deputy speaker, had conducted the first election of the Punjab chief minister after the resignation of Usman Buzdar wherein Hamza Shehbaz had defeated incumbent Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi. The election was marred by rumpus and violence as MPAs of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and PML-Q attacked Mazari.
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