ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has suspended the eight-day physical remand of PTI MNAs who were arrested in connection with cases stemming from the September 8 rally.
A two-member bench of the IHC, consisting of Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, reviewed the arguments presented by the petitioners’ lawyer. The lawyer contended that the physical remand order was unlawful, as the trial court had not provided any justification for granting it. He also argued that the prosecution had failed to present any evidence against the accused.
The IHC bench agreed with the petitioners’ claims and suspended the physical remand order. The court instructed the prosecution to present its arguments at the next hearing and issued notices to the Advocate General Islamabad and the Prosecutor General. The hearing was adjourned until September 14.
Earlier in the day, five Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNAs, including Amir Dogar, had approached the IHC to challenge the eight-day physical remand order. The petitioners claimed that, as elected members of the National Assembly, their arrest from the assembly premises was illegal and carried out without proper justification, leading to their detention at an undisclosed location.
The petitioners argued that the remand order violated Articles 4 and 10-A of the Constitution and pointed out that the FIR did not specify their roles in the alleged offenses. They also noted that no injuries were reported from the purported firing incident.
The petitioners requested the IHC to declare the remand order issued by the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) as illegal and unconstitutional.
The arrests of PTI MNAs, including party chairman Barrister Gohar, Sher Afzal Marwat, and Shoaib Shaheen, were carried out by Islamabad police with prior approval from National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq. MNAs Zain Qureshi and Sheikh Waqas Akram were arrested from inside the Parliament House. Additionally, police detained Owais Ahmed Chatha, Syed Shah Ahmed, Sunni Ittehad Council’s Sahibzada Hamid Raza, Yousaf Khan, Maulana Naseem Shah, and Ahmed Shah Khattak.
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Sources indicated that Speaker Ayaz Sadiq had permitted the arrests outside the Parliament House following the police presenting an FIR for SOP violations during the September 8 rally. Three cases under the Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Bill have been registered in Islamabad, naming 28 individuals, including PTI leaders Barrister Gohar Ali, Sher Afzal Marwat, Shoaib Shaheen, Omar Gul, Zartaj Gul, Aamir Mughal, Seemabia Tahir, and Raja Basharat.
In another development, the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa safely returned to the KP CM House after a seven-hour absence following a crackdown on PTI leaders.
