Qureshi not being granted legal access at Adiala, claims lawyer

PTI leader fails to submit undertaking before IHC; in jail five days after court termed arrest 'illegal'

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) vice chairman and former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi's lawyer told reporters on Monday that he was not being allowed by the authorities to meet with his client in jail.

The lawyer, Taimur Malik, maintained that "not even his daughter is being allowed to see him [Qureshi[".

"Nothing can be said about the undertaking unless a meeting is held [with the PTI leader]," he said, adding that the legal team would once again try to visit him in jail today.

"We can only submit an undertaking after taking directions from him," Malik stressed.

Notably, the PTI leader remains in police custody five days after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) termed his arrest illegal and issued orders for his release.

Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb had heard the PTI leader's plea against his arrest under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order Act (3MPO) last week.

The court declared the arrest null and void and instructed the concerned authorities to ensure his release after he signs an undertaking.

Despite relief from the courts, however, there appears to be no respite in the crackdown on PTI leaders.

Their arrests followed violent protests that erupted following PTI chief Imran Khan's arrest, where sensitive state and military institutions were targeted.

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'Protective bail'

IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq heard Qureshi’s plea seeking protective bail and details of the cases registered against him.

Barrister Faiza Asad and Taimur Malik represented the PTI leader during the proceedings.

The court has issued notices to IG police and interior secretary seeking their replies and adjourned proceedings until May 24.

Malik requested the court to order the authorities to clarify if there were any cases registered against Qureshi, apart from the ones already known to the legal team.

The lawyer also pleaded the court to issue orders for Qureshi to be presented before the judge.

“We had heard on the media that he has been released,” the judge said. The PTI leader’s counsel responded that his release was depending on an undertaking that was still to be submitted.

'Vandals to not be spared'

Addressing a meeting on law and order in Lahore on Sunday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had reiterated that those involved in vandalism, and planning, inciting, and raising slogans against the armed forces and using abusive language would not be spared.

“The 9th of May was the darkest day in the history of Pakistan, when a political party of the country committed anti-state acts of the sort that even the enemy couldn’t think of,” Shehbaz had told the meeting.

The government has also on several occasions accused PTI chief Imran Khan of having masterminded the attacks.

Meanwhile, Imran has called for an "independent investigation" into the vandalism, claiming that it was a well-planned conspiracy intended to weaken and eliminate the PTI.