J&K PDP LEADER GRANTED BAIL IN SEDITION CASE
SRINAGAR: The high court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh on Wednesday granted bail to PDP leader Waheed Para, who was arrested by the NIA in a terror conspiracy case in November 2020. Para, perhaps, has become the first person to benefit from the Supreme Court putting on hold trial of cases under section 124 A (sedition).
While granting bail to Para against a surety of ₹1 lakh, a division bench of the high court comprising justice Sanjeev Kumar and justice V C Koul laid down several conditions on the PDP leader.The court directed Para to present himself before the investigating officer as and when required to, surrender his passport and not leave Jammu and Kashmir without the prior permission.The division bench listed apex court ruling as one of the mitigating factors while allowing Para’s appeal for bail.
“Regarding the sedition charges under Section 124-A IPC, the issue is governed by the recent judgment of the SC in the case of S.G. Vombatkere vs. Union of India, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 470, whereby the SC has directed that all the pending trials, appeals and proceedings with respect to the charge framed under Section 124-A of IPC shall be kept in abeyance,” the court observed.
NEW DELHI: Pakistan seems headed for long period of instability with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif facing a political challenge from his ousted predecessor Imran Khan, who is heading a long protest march to Islamabad on May 25, even as the country spirals into a deeper economic crisis (the Pakistani Rupee’s free fall continues), with the Pakistan Army adopting a neutral stance.
According to reports reaching New Delhi, PTI chairman Imran Khan will depart from Peshawar on the morning of May 25 for Islamabad to lead the long march. The call for the march was primarily for people from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab with parallel protests in Quetta in Balochistan and local protests in Sukkur, Larkana, Hyderabad and Karachi of Sindh Province. PTI leaders have said that Khan will announce his next action plan on June 3, and there is a possibility that the former international cricketer may plan a sit-in protest in Islamabad.
The Sharif government is taking the political challenge head-on and has declared section 144 in Sindh province. It has also mounted a countrywide crackdown on Khan’s supporters.