LAHORE: An anti-corruption court on Thursday granted bail to former deputy speaker Punjab Assembly Dost Muhammad Mazari in an alleged land scandal.
The court ordered Mazari to submit surety bonds of Rs 100,000 to avail the relief of bail.
Anti-Corruption Court Judge Khalid Mehmood Bhatti heard the post-arrest bail application of the former deputy speaker.
Mazari’s counsel argued before the court that his client was made target of political victimisation and the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) Punjab registered a bogus case against him. He submitted that the charges of stealing land record and occupying state land were baseless. He pleaded with the court to grant post-arrest bail to his client as he was no longer required for investigation and he had been sent to jail on judicial remand.
However, the prosecution opposed the bail plea, saying that strong evidence was available against the accused.
The court, after hearing detailed arguments of the parties, reserved its verdict for a short while. Later, the court granted bail to Dost Mazari and ordered for submitting surety bonds for the purpose.
On October 29, the ACE Punjab had arrested the former deputy speaker in a case of alleged illegal allotment of 2,500-kanal land in Rajanpur district. Dost Mazari underwent physical remand for five days, and he was sent to jail on Nov 4 by a judicial magistrate.
