Nine PTI MPAs granted pre-arrest bail in Punjab Assembly brawl case

MPAs' counsel maintains case 'politically motivated' attempt to humiliate, blackmail them

LAHORE:

A district court judge on Tuesday granted pre-arrest bails till April 29 to nine Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members in the Punjab Assembly violence case.

The MPAs were nominated in a case for allegedly attacking former acting speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari, affecting the assembly’s proceedings, damaging its equipment and creating chaos on April 16, during the session called in to elect the provincial chief minister.

Additional district and sessions judge Yaseen Mohal also summoned the police record by April 29 and directed the provincial lawmakers to join the investigation.

The PTI MPAs counsel, Amir Saeed Rawn, told the court that his clients – namely Khiyal Ahmed, Shehbaz Ahmad, Nadeem Abbas, Mahinder Pall Singh, Ali Raza, Shujat Nawaz, Amar Yasir, Waris Aziz and Umar Farooq – had been implicated in a forged case, made up to humiliate and blackmail them.

He maintained that the MPAs had nothing to do with the case, which he claimed was registered on purely politically motivations.

The counsel further argued that the PTI MPAs fear police arrests and should hence, be granted pre-arrest bails by the court. He also asked the court to direct the concerned police officials to refrain from arresting them.

Read Punjab heats up as legal impasse over CM election persists

Last week, the Punjab Assembly turned into a battlefield as the power struggle between two contenders for the chief minister slot escalated into full-blown violence.

In an unprecedented move, the house saw a heavy contingent of police flooding its premises, thrashing lawmakers and physically evicting them.

The house plunged into chaos just as the voting for the new chief minister was scheduled to take place with the PTI and PML-Q lawmakers attacking Punjab Assembly acting speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari as he arrived in the house to preside over the session.

PTI lawmakers carrying lotas (spouted globular water containers) roughed up Mazari before the security staff of the assembly escorted him back to his chamber in protective custody.

Meanwhile, the PML-N lawmakers also chipped in the chaos, not even sparing Parvez Elahi, a PML-Q leader and candidate for the CM’s slot, assaulting the senior politician.