SHC refuses urgent hearing of petition

Party leaders say police taking action to prevent supporters from joining Azadi March

KARACHI:

The Chief Justice of Sindh High Court, Ahmed Ali Sheikh on Tuesday disallowed urgent hearing of a petition pertaining to Azadi March by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and raids on houses of party leaders and said that the court will hear the case on Wednesday (today).

PTI Parliamentary Leader in Sindh Assembly, Bilal Ghaffar and MPA Saeed Afridi had filed the petition against police conducting raids on the residences of PTI leaders to arrest them before they join the march.

The petitioner's counsel stated that raids were carried out on the houses of PTI leaders throughout the night between Monday and Tuesday.

The purpose of raids was to prevent PTI leaders from participating in the Azadi March. The court is requested to hear the petition immediately.

However, the chief justice refused to allow an immediate hearing. The court remarked that the petition would be heard on Wednesday as per rules. The petition was filed by Saeed Afridi and Bilal Ghaffar.

Talking to The Express Tribune, PTI MPA, Raja Azhar said that in the night between Monday and Tuesday Karachi police arrested PTI MNA Saifur Rehman Mehsud from his home located on Abul Hassan Isfahani Road in Gulshan-e-Iqbal and shifted him to an unknown location.

Azhar said that Aziz Bhatti police station SHO, Adeel Afzal and his party who went to arrest Saifur Rehman Mehsud disrespected the privacy and entered the rooms of ladies. Police, instead of presenting an arrest warrant, entered the house by scaling the wall.

Police also raided the house of PTI's former member of National Assembly, Ataullah Advocate in Orangi Town and took him into custody.

Azhar said that the house of PTI MPA Shahnawaz Jadoon was raided twice. When police did not find Jadoon they took away his father and brother. Two hours later, a second raid was carried out, and his younger brother was taken into custody and transferred to unknown location.

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Police also raided the house of Saeed Afridi, a member of the Sindh Assembly and senior vice president of PTI Karachi. They also raided the house of PTI Karachi president Bilal Ghaffar but could not arrest him. In Gulshan-e-Iqbal, PTI Information Secretary Muhammad Faizan said that the police conducted a raid on the house of PTI National Assembly and Information Secretary, Sindh, Arsalan Taj Ghumman in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Block-6, but he had moved to a safe place.

Similarly, the house of PTI Sindh Assembly member, Shehzad Qureshi was also raided by police personnel in plain clothes.

He said that Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Aziz Bhatti police has a list of more than 50 regional officials and activists of the PTI east district.

The houses of Taha Sheikh, Imran Bashir, Atif Razzaq, Mohammad Faizan and Syed Mohammad Taha were also raided. Aziz Bhatti and Gulshan-e-Iqbal police, however, did not confirm the arrest of any PTI leader or activist during these raids.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2022.