Imran asks SC if Art 14 'only applicable to the powerful'

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Monday questioned the superior judiciary whether Article 14 of the Constitution "is only applicable to the powerful of the state" and not to "everyone else".

In a tweet from his official handle, the PTI chief referred to Article 14 of the Constitution which declares the "dignity of man" to be inviolable.

The former premier highlighted the brutality against Senator Swati, saying that he was "stripped naked, tortured and humiliated through an illegal video sent to his wife".

He added that Swati has been seeking justice from the SC for weeks to "no avail" but when he reacted in "justifiable anger and frustration", he was put in jail and had 15 FIRs registered against him across Pakistan.

Read 'Pakistan's Dark Age': PTI, others condemn Senator Azam Swati's arrest

The PTI chief asked SC judges where the justice is in all this, questioning whether the provision of Article 14 of the Constitution is applied selectively to the "high and mighty State functionaries".

Imran's tweets came following a raid at Swati's farmhouse in Chak Shahzad by the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cyber Crime Wing Islamabad on Sunday.

The senator has been taken into custody for the second time for allegedly tweeting against senior military officials.

He was later produced before a judicial magistrate, who handed him over to the FIA on a two-day physical remand.

Further, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has prohibited the broadcast and rebroadcast of Swati’s speeches, news conferences and media coverage, including as a guest at a talk show, statements, or tickers, on all satellite TV channels with immediate effect.

Multiple FIRs have been registered against Swati, complaining that his tweets against the military, which had rendered countless sacrifices for the country, had left them deeply disturbed.