PHC adjourns Safdar Awan’s bail hearing over lawyers’ strike
PESHAWAR – Staff Reporter:
Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar Awan, the husband of PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz, appeared in the Peshawar High Court Wednesday morning. He has filed for pre-arrest bail in an assets case.
NAB has accused him of owning more assets than his known sources of income could account for.
The case couldn’t be heard because lawyers across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have staged a strike against an amendment in the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC), 1908.
NAB prosecutor Azeem Daad said that the case should be heard at another date.
The court said that they will decide another date after the strike ends and extended Awan’s bail.
On November 3, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council chairperson Shahid Raza Malik and executive chairman Shahid Riaz Bukri said that the strike will continue till November 7. They said action will be taken against lawyers who fail to observe the strike.
A committee of representatives has been formed to negotiate on the matter and a writ petition filed in the Peshawar High Court too. It will be heard on November 5.
The lawyers, who have been protesting since the start of 2020, said that under the amended rules the complainants can now file appeals against the judgement of the civil court in the high court instead of the sessions court.
They said that this would increase the burden on the high courts and delay the process of justice.
‘Will make Nov 22 rally a success’
Awan, while speaking to the media outside the high court, said that the opposition parties will not stop till they make their November 22 rally in Peshawar a success.
The Pakhtuns are not afraid of terrorists, he remarked.
The Pakistan Democratic Movement is the second biggest movement in the country after Tehreek-e-Pakistan. He remarked that the government issues an alert for a terrorist attack in the city where PDM rally is being held. They cannot deter us. “Peshawar rally will be held at all costs,” he added.