Musharraf closer to freedom, gets bail in judges' detention case

Division bench of Islamabad High Court accepts his post-arrest bail plea against Rs 5 lakh surety

Former Pakistan president General Pervez Musharraf has inched closer to freedom after he got bail in the second of the three serious cases registered against him by the PPP.

A division bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), comprising Justice Noorul Haq N. Qureshi and Justice Riaz Ahmad Khan, accepted Musharaf's post-arrest bail plea against surety bond of Rs 500,000 in the judges detention case.

According to Dawn News, an Anti-Terrorism Court of Islamabad had rejected the same plea on May 22, saying that 'a proclaimed offender' was not entitled to any concession.

On May 20 an Anti-Terrorism Court of Rawalpindi had granted Musharraf post-arrest bail in the Benazir Bhutto murder case.

Now, Musharraf only needs to secure bail in the Nawab Akbar Bugti murder case, to be a free man.

His counsel Ilyas Siddiqui described the Bugti murder case as 'a case of no evidence' as the investigation agency of Quetta had yet to identify the exact location where the alleged crime took place.

He said that after his release in the third case, Musharraf can apply for the removal of his name from the Exit Control List (ECL) and will be free to visit any place within the country and abroad, the report added.