MNA Latif remanded in judicial custody
File
A duty magistrate on Wednesday remanded Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) parliamentarian Mian Javed Latif in judicial custody for 14 days in a case of allegedly insulting state institutions and creating disorder.
During the proceedings, the member of National Assembly asked the magistrate about his crime, he said that if a person talked about keeping the house in order, he was labelled as a traitor.
The PML-N leader's counsel asked whether a person could disturb law and order through such a statement and the state had suffered a loss because of it.
He prayed to the court to release his client.
MNA Latif said the small provinces had been deprived of their rights. "We will sacrifice our lives but not leave the small provinces to their own fate." He said that when a few people would make the policies then the rights of the people would be usurped.
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In earlier proceedings, the counsel for the accused had asked the court what objectionable content it had heard in the cited television programme clip.
Speaking to the media before an earlier court appearance, Latif said he had referred during the talk show to threats faced by the late former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and compared her situation to that of PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz.
He said he had wondered about the advantage of chanting patriotic slogans when one could not defend the country's constitution.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 13th, 2021.