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Islamabad Court Grants Bail to Former Pakistan Information Minister

Former Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry was arrested on January 25 for allegedly threatening members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Sputnik
A local Islamabad court on Wednesday granted bail to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) politician and former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry.
However, the court imposed a condition to his bail petition that the ex-minister would not voice similar allegations that could incite violence against a constitutional body.
The court further mentioned that his bail was approved on a security bond of 20,000 Pakistani Rupees.
Accepting the PTI politician's bail plea, Additional Sessions Judge Faizan Haider Gillani said, "Parliamentarians should not give such statements. Fawad Chaudhry should not have given such a statement."
"I am granting the bail on the condition that Fawad Chaudhry does not repeat such remarks," he added.
At the start of the hearing, Chaudhry's legal counsel Babar Awan argued that "Fawad Chaudhry is being named in a false case."
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At this, the ECP lawyer fired back, saying that freedom of speech doesn't give anyone the right to insult or vilify a member of a constitutional authority before adding that "an ECP employee was called a clerk."
In response to the prosecutor's argument, the judge said, "Did any lawyer object to the label of being a clerk? Why is the term 'clerk' being considered derogatory?"
The prosecutor replied that the term "clerk" was aimed at an ECP employee.
"[But] Fawad Chaudhry is not denying his statement," the judge said.
Subsequently, the former minister's bail plea was accepted, but not before the court warned him against making such statements again.
The arrest of Chaudhry came last Wednesday after a report was lodged against him by ECP Secretary Umar Hameed, alleging that he had threatened members of the constitutional body at a police station in Islamabad.
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