Elahi remanded in police custody till 8th

LHC issues show cause notice to Islamabad chief commissioner for alleged contempt of court

ISLAMABAD:

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) has remanded PTI Central President Parvez Elahi in police custody for two days based on a first information report (FIR) that Islamabad Police quickly produced from its satchel right after the capital’s high court suspended his detention on Tuesday.

The police on Wednesday brought Elahi to Islamabad Judicial Complex in an armored vehicle amid heightened security and presented him in the ATC-1 where a duty judge, Shahrukh Arjumand, presided over the hearing in the absence of Judge Abul Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnanain.

Interestingly, the FIR registered on March 18 accused various PTI leaders of resorting to acts of vandalism at the capital’s judicial complex during a court hearing of the party chairman, Imran Khan.
The original FIR did not nominate Elahi as an accused.

However, the remand application submitted by the police on Wednesday stated that the former Punjab chief minister was named in the complainant's final statement in the case.

The police claimed that on March 18, the accused provided the PTI chairman with vehicles and armed men, thereby directly and indirectly aiding the other accused.

They argued that the police wanted to interrogate Elahi to take possession of the vehicles used in the incident, find out the means used for the transfer of funds, and identify some unknown culprits.

The public prosecutor requested the court to remand the PTI leader in police custody for 15 days.
Elahi's lawyers, Sardar Abdul Razzaq Khan and Ali Bukhari, opposed the police’s request, contending that a very frivolous case had been fabricated against the politician.

Providing the background of the case, the lawyers said the Islamabad Police “abducted” the former Punjab chief minister on September 1 from Lahore, despite explicit orders from the Lahore High Court (LHC) not to arrest Elahi in any case.

They contended that in view of an LHC order for the Attock district and session judge to present Elahi in court, government authorities shifted the politician to Islamabad Police Lines.

Later, when the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday suspended Elahi’s detention under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance, the police arrested him in a case in which he was not even mentioned in the FIR.

They said the government authorities were violating the law with impunity despite explicit court orders, and the judiciary is the last hope of the people.

During the hearing, the PTI leader said the police did not allow him to sleep on Tuesday night. The lawyers said using these tactics, government authorities were trying to force Elahi to change his political loyalties.

After hearing arguments from both parties, the duty judge reserved his verdict while allowing the politician’s family to meet him. The judge later accepted the police’s request and remanded the PTI leader in custody for two days.

Meanwhile, an LHC bench issued a show cause notice to Islamabad chief commissioner for alleged contempt of court while hearing a petition filed by Elahi’s wife.

The capital’s police had apprehended Elahi on September 1 in Lahore on the order of a judicial magistrate under Section 3 of the MPO.

This arrest, which occurred hours after Elahi’s release from the custody of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), shocked many, as earlier on that day, September 1, the LHC had explicitly prohibited authorities from arresting the PTI leader in any case.

Elahi’s wife later filed two separate petitions in the LHC, which on Monday issued a show cause notice to Islamabad Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Akbar Nasir Khan for alleged contempt of court.

The single-member bench, presided over by Justice Mirza Viqas Rauf, however, disposed of Qaisara’s second petition seeking Elahi’s production in the court after declaring it “ineffective."