PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday granted protective bail to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi till November 18, barring authorities from arresting him and seeking details of all cases filed against him.
The decision came from a two-member bench comprising Justice Ijaz Anwar and Justice Muhammad Naeem Anwar, during the hearing of Afridi’s plea for bail and case information. Justice Ijaz inquired about the FIRs involving Afridi, to which the KP advocate general replied that he was unaware, even joking that he himself might be nominated in one.
Speaking to the media, CM Afridi revealed he had yet to receive a response to his request to meet PTI founder Imran Khan in Adiala Jail. “The federal government should realise that the KP CM is coming to meet the PTI founder. No decision will be made without his direction,” he said. Afridi has left for Islamabad to discuss cabinet formation and other key matters.
Afridi’s elevation to the CM’s office followed controversy after Governor Faisal Karim Kundi rejected Ali Amin Gandapur’s resignation but administered oath to Afridi on PHC’s directives. Afridi, a young and ideological PTI leader from Khyber district, has been tasked by Khan to formulate a counter-terrorism strategy and urged a review of Pakistan’s Afghanistan policy.
