The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday issued notices to the prosecutor and other parties on the bail petitions of Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) central organiser Dr Mahrang Baloch and fellow leaders Beebow Baloch and Beebarg Baloch, before adjourning the hearing indefinitely.

A three-member bench headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar heard the petitions. During proceedings, the judge asked whether separate FIRs had been registered against each of the three petitioners. Their counsel, Advocate Jibran Nasir, confirmed that all three face separate FIRs.

Justice Mazhar also inquired about the core issue in the cases and the stage the trial had reached. Nasir told the bench that in Dr Mahrang's case, the statements of two of the six prosecution witnesses had been recorded so far.

The bailability argument

The defence's central argument was that all sections included in the FIR are bailable offences. When Justice Mazhar asked counsel to first read the FIR and explain how the sections were bailable, Nasir responded that offences carrying a punishment of three years or less are bailable under the law, and that every section applied against Dr Mahrang carries a punishment below three years.

After hearing the arguments, the bench issued notices to the prosecution and other parties and adjourned the case without fixing a date.

High Court also moves on life sentence appeals

The same day, according to reports, the Balochistan High Court issued notices to the authorities while taking up appeals against the life sentences handed to Dr Mahrang Baloch and Sibghatullah Shahji (Baloch). The BYC had announced earlier this month that its legal team had filed the appeals before the high court, calling the trial court's verdict unjust.

The two BYC leaders were sentenced to life imprisonment on 22 June 2026 by an anti-terrorism court in Quetta over the killing of a paramilitary soldier during a July 2024 protest in Gwadar. The defence has rejected the verdict, describing the proceedings, conducted inside Hudda Jail and later as a so-called faceless trial, as lacking transparency, and says the legal battle will continue in the superior courts. Provincial authorities, including Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti, have defended the conviction, maintaining the case concerned the murder of a soldier and not political activism.

Background

Dr Mahrang Baloch, one of Balochistan's most prominent rights campaigners, has been in custody since March 2025, initially detained under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) law and later formally arrested in cases registered under the Anti-Terrorism Act. Her name was placed on the Fourth Schedule of the ATA in October 2024. The Balochistan High Court rejected her bail application in the CTD Quetta case in February this year, after which she approached the Supreme Court in April.

Her prosecution has drawn attention from national and international human rights organisations, who view the proceedings as a test of due process and the space for peaceful dissent in Balochistan, while the provincial government maintains that the cases follow the law.

This report will be updated when the Supreme Court fixes the next date of hearing or the Balochistan High Court proceedings are formally confirmed.