Pak court rejects anticipatory bail application of TikToker in forest fire case
May 28, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], May 28 : An Islamabad district court on Friday rejected the anticipatory bail application of a Pakistani TikToker who posted a TikTok video of the forest fire.
The application was heard by Judge Kamran Basharat Mufti who after the hearing adjourned the court till June 1, saying that the court would await the government's response.
Prior to the hearing, the female star's lawyer, Mian Tariq, filed an application to transfer the bail case from Judge Abida Sajjad.
He told the court that he had submitted the bail bonds as well as a surety from his friend but Judge Sajjad rejected bail, saying that the court could not accept surety from a lawyer, the Dawn newspaper reported.
The counsel said the TikToker was unable to arrange surety from a local and the judge had made up her mind before listening to the facts of the case. Thus, requested that the case be transferred to another judge "on merit."
He also claimed that the fire was started in Haripur but the complainant had not yet identified the area.
Later in the day, Judge Abida Sajjad resumed the hearing on the pre-arrest bail application and asked where the suspect was, the Dawn newspaper reported.
The court clerk then asked the suspect, TikToker Saeed to come to the courtroom thrice but she did not appear. Instead, she stayed in her lawyer's chamber. Her lawyer, Manzoor, informed the court that the hearing on the transfer application had been adjourned till June 1 and requested the court to grant his client time till then.
For his part, the government's lawyer Hasnain Haider argued that the district court was not authorised to hear matters related to forest fires. Judge Sajjad then dismissed the pre-arrest bail application.
Subsequently, Saeed's lawyer submitted a fresh application for pre-arrest bail which was heard by Judge Abida Sajjad but it was again dismissed. Subsequently, her lawyer submitted a fresh application for pre-arrest bail which was heard by Judge Sajjad but it was again dismissed, the Dawn newspaper reported.
Following the hearings, Saeed left the courtroom with her lawyer but is yet to be arrested.
The TikToker Nosheen Saeed alias Dolly had applied for pre-arrest bail after registration of a first information report (FIR) against her for setting the forest ablaze to shoot a video. She was granted an interim bail from the court till May 27, the Dawn reported.
Saeed has more than 11 million followers on TikTok, and had posted a clip of herself walking playfully in a silver ball gown in front of a burning hillside, presumably the Margalla Hills in Islamabad, with the caption: "Fire erupts wherever I am," the Dawn newspaper reported.
Her video went viral on social media recently, bringing her severe criticism as people initially assumed that she had started the blaze herself at a time when a devastating heatwave was underway in Pakistan causing forest fires.
In 15 seconds video that has gone viral on the internet, she was seen walking playfully in a gown in front of a burning hillside with the caption: "Fire erupts wherever I am."
He also claimed that the fire was started in Haripur but the complainant had not yet identified the area. However, the short clip which received backlash has since been taken down.
