ATC dismisses Abidi's plea for post-arrest bail.

Byline: SHAHID RAO

ISLAMABAD -- An Anti-Terrorism Court Tuesday dismissed an application seeking post-arrest bail for former senator Faisal Raza Abidi in a case related to defamation of Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar.

ATC Judge Shahrukh Arjumand conducted hearing of the petition seeking bail for Abidi on medical grounds and rejected the same after hearing the arguments of both the sides.

Abidi has approached the ATC again to seek bail on medical grounds as the same court had earlier turned down the application of former senator seeking bail after arrest after the prosecutor adopted that the accused had in an interview aired on a private television channel tried to blackmail the top judge.

However, the counsel for Abidi contended before the court that there was nothing on record showing his client had threatened any member of the judiciary. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had booked Faisal Raza under the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016.

According to the FIR registered against the former senator, Abidi with criminal intent and ulterior...