March 14, 2026
By Rehan Piracha
LAHORE
Ali Wazir, the former member of National Assembly (MNA), and the leader of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), remains behind bars in the Sukkur Central Jail — not because any court has ordered it, but because office hours ended ‘too late’ on the wrong day.
On March 10, a constitutional bench of the Sindh High Court’s Circuit Court at Hyderabad granted Wazir bail in the last active case against him — a cybercrime matter stemming from allegations of spreading anti-state content on social media. The court declared his continued detention illegal. Yet more than a week later, he has not been released.
His counsel, Imdad Hyder Solangi, explained the bureaucratic tangle that has kept his client in custody: the written copy of the court order reached the Additional Registrar of the Hyderabad High Court three days after it was passed. By the time it arrived, office hours had already closed for the day. The next day was a public holiday, followed by a Saturday and then a Sunday.
“It is an extremely distressing situation,” Solangi said, speaking to Voicepk. “Even after the Sindh High Court Hyderabad declared Ali Wazir’s detention illegal, he remains imprisoned to this day.” He expressed hope that a release warrant would be issued on Monday, allowing Wazir to walk free the same day.
A relentless cycle of courts and custody
Wazir’s ordeal began on August 4, 2024, when Islamabad Police arrested him in connection with a road accident. Authorities subsequently charged him under an anti-terrorism case. Though the Islamabad High Court granted him bail in September 2024, he was not released.
Instead, the Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner invoked Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance, which allows authorities to detain a person for up to 90 days without filing an FIR, on the grounds of a perceived threat to public safety. What followed, according to Badshah Wazir, a close aide of the PTM leader, was a calculated strategy to keep him incapacitated regardless of court rulings.
“Even after the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi Bench declared his MPO detention illegal on September 27, 2024, he still could not walk free,” Badshah Wazir said. “The Gujrat Deputy Commissioner immediately issued another MPO order, and Ali was transferred to Gujrat Jail.”
The pattern repeated itself across Punjab, Balochistan, and Sindh. Deputy Commissioners in Bhakkar and Gujranwala issued further MPO orders, both later struck down by courts. Each time, instead of being freed, Wazir was rearrested under a fresh charge or transferred to a new jurisdiction. Balochistan Police took him from Gujranwala and booked him under an anti-terrorism FIR in district Hub, detaining him again under MPO even after bail was obtained. He was then handed over to Sukkur Police on two anti-terrorism cases — both ending in acquittals.
The final case — a cybercrime FIR originating from an anti-terrorism matter in Nawabshah — unravelled in a similar fashion. The Anti-Terrorism Court ruled that the allegations did not constitute terrorism and referred the matter to the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA). The NCCIA, after conducting its own inquiry, found no evidence of any offence under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA). It was on this basis that the Sindh High Court granted Wazir bail and declared his continued detention unlawful.
The court’s finding
In its judgment, the constitutional bench — headed by Justice Arbab Ali Hakro and Justice Riazat Ali Sehar — was unequivocal. With neither a trial nor an investigation pending against Wazir, the bench ruled that his continued incarceration violated Article 9 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to personal liberty.
“The criminal justice system does not countenance incarceration in the absence of a pending investigation or trial,” the bench stated, adding that where the investigative process had concluded with a report exonerating the accused, “the liberty of the citizen must prevail over speculative apprehensions.”
The state’s own law officers conceded in court that no trial or investigation was pending against Wazir. “Such admission on behalf of the State itself demonstrates that the continued detention of the Petitioner has lost its legal basis,” the bench noted, ordering his release on bail upon furnishing a surety of Rs 50,000.
Health concerns mount
Beyond the legal battles, Badshah Wazir raised serious concerns about the PTM leader’s physical condition. Wazir suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, and a heart condition, yet has reportedly been denied regular medical check-ups since August 2024, despite doctors recommending routine monitoring. The precise state of his health remains unknown, but his supporters say the matter warrants urgent attention once he is released.
For now, Ali Wazir — acquitted in every case brought against him, declared illegally detained by the courts, and cleared of all cybercrime allegations by the investigating agency itself — waits in Sukkur Central Jail for a piece of paperwork that his lawyer hopes will arrive on Monday morning.