10/03/2026
Sindh High Court grants bail to Pashtun leader Ali Wazir in terrorism case
March 10– The constitutional bench of the Sindh High Court on Monday granted bail to former member of Pakistan’s National Assembly and Pashtun political leader Ali Wazir in a terrorism case registered in Nawabshah, his lawyer said.
During the previous hearing, the court had expressed concern that Wazir was being held in Sukkur Central Jail without any active case pending against him and directed relevant officials to appear and explain the legal basis for his continued detention.
Wazir has been in custody since Aug. 3, 2024, and has been transferred between several prisons across the country since his arrest. He was initially held in different jails in Punjab province, later moved to Balochistan and eventually transferred to Sindh, including detention in Sukkur Jail.
His lawyer said the repeated transfers made it difficult for his family and legal team to track the cases and provide timely legal assistance.
During this period, dozens of first information reports (FIRs) were registered against Wazir in different cities across Pakistan. Authorities also issued multiple detention orders under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (3-MPO), allowing him to remain in custody even after courts granted bail in other cases.
Lawyers and rights advocates say this pattern of successive cases and preventive detention orders has effectively prolonged his imprisonment, as new cases or detention orders appeared whenever relief was granted in earlier ones.
They also questioned the credibility of some FIRs, noting that several were filed in cities Wazir had never visited, alleging he had addressed anti-state gatherings there.
While the Sindh High Court’s decision to grant bail is seen as a significant development, Wazir’s legal team expressed concern that new cases or fresh preventive detention orders could still delay his release.
Wazir, a prominent Pashtun politician and former lawmaker from South Waziristan, has been a vocal critic of state policies and an advocate for the rights of Pashtun communities in Pakistan.