ISLAMABAD
Supreme Court on Thursday granted post-arrest bail to Gwadar’s Haq Do Tehreek (HDT) leader and secretary general Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Balochistan, Maulana Hidayatur Rehman, who has been behind the bars for three months under heinous crime charges.
Appearing before a three-member bench of the Justice Sardar Tariq Masood on Thursday, Advocate Kamran Murtaza contended that Maulana Hidayatur Rehman was apprehended from the court premises.
Responding to the court query as to why the counsel did not opt for challenging the arrest from court premises, Kamran Murtaza submitted that at the time of the incident, the Supreme Court had not yet ruled that an arrest made within the court premises would be considered unlawful. “This rule was decided in the wake of the arrest of Imran Khan,” Murtaza submitted.
Hidayutur Rehman made the headlines last year for leading a series of protests in Gwadar against illegal trawling in Gwadar’s waters, a high number of security checkpoints and a lack of trade on the Pak-Iran border.
Balochistan Police nabbed him from Gwadar on January 13 over charges stemming from killing of a policeman by unidentified assailants on Dec 27, 2022, during the protests held by HDT supporters in December. In consequence, the arrest of the HDT chief ignited protests in various parts of Gwadar as his supporters had issued a warning last month saying if their leader was not set free they would stage further demonstrations.
The TLTP learnt that two days ago, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Ameer Sirajul Haq on Tuesday wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Umar Atta Bandial urging for date for hearing bail application fixation of Maulana Hidayatur Rehman Baloch who is leader of ‘Give Right to Gwadar’ movement.
In his turn the prosecutor opposed the bail application saying till conclusion of the principal accused person trial in the matter bail to Hidayatur Rehman could not be granted saying until the judicial proceedings of the main suspect, Majid Johar, were concluded.
A member of the bench Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar inquired whether Hidayatur Rehman faced charges of inciting and aiding in the murder of the policeman.
Responding to the court query, Advocate Kamran Murtaza apprised the bench that specific charge would be determined during the trial, adding Rehman’s movement was primarily related to the facilitation of water supply. After hearing arguments of both the sides, the top court granted post-arrest bail to HDT chief, subject to furnishing of two surety bonds of Rs300,000 each.
The TLTP has learnt that two days ago, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Ameer Sirajul Haq on Tuesday wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Umar Atta Bandial urging for date for hearing bail application fixation of Maulana Hidayatur Rehman Baloch who is leader of ‘Give Right to Gwadar’ movement.
After hearing arguments of prosecution and accused person’ counsels on Thursday, a three-member bench of the top court led by Justice Sardar Tariq Masood accepted the post-arrest bail petition of Maulana Hidayatur Rehman against two surety bonds worth of Rs300,000 each.
Case history:
During December 22 last year, a police constable was killed in Gwadar as clashes between the HDT activists — who had been protesting in the city for nearly two months with various demands including an end to illegal trawling in Gwadar’s water, setting up of a high number of security checkpoints and opening up of trade on the Pak-Iran border.
According to the prosecution story, a constable Yasir was shot in the neck after violence erupted during the protest at Hashmi Chowk, consequently, he died on the spot.
The provincial police launched a First Information Report (FIR) against Hidayatur Rehman on charges of murder, attempted murder, provoking the people for violence and other charges on Dec 30, 2022 and nominated three other people along with Rehman as responsible for the alleged charges.
The police claimed that Rehman had provoked and incited the people sitting there (at the protest site) to pelt stones at government vehicles, which allegedly resulted in the shattering of car windows of a police officer along with other losses. The movement advocating for the rights of the people of Gwadar was launched in November 2021, with Maulana Rehman at the forefront.
After exhausting all forums for extraordinary relief of bail in district courts, counsels for Maulana Hidayatur Rehman invoked the jurisdiction of Balochistan High Court (BHC). On February 27 this year, a division bench of the BHC comprising Chief Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Gul Hassan Tareen rejected the application observing the rights’ movement was turned into a violent campaign over inciting by the petitioner and a policeman was murdered. “The life of a police constable is as precious as that of a political worker or leader,” the bench observed. “It seems the petitioner has been involved in the crime, so as he could not be granted concession of bail,” the BHC ruled. TLTP
