Police produce ‘missing’ Raja Nasir before IHC

On the strict instructions of the Islamabad High Court and its hint at postponing the general elections in case he was not found, police on Wednesday revealed the arrest of PTI-affiliated independent candidate for PP-11 Raja Nasir, the brother of party stalwart Raja Basharat.

According to the details, the court heard a plea filed by PP-11 candidate’s son, Ahmed.
The SSP operations appeared before the court and expressed his ignorance about Nasir’s arrest.

He told the court that the PP-11 candidate was not in the possession of the police but they received information about his disappearance through its Rescue 15 telephonic service.

The court had earlier given an ultimatum of half an hour and indicated to postpone the polls in the constituency in case Nasir was not recovered.

The judge then adjourned the hearing till 7:30 pm.

When the hearing resumed, the state counsel told the court that Nasir was arrested by the Rawalpindi’s Morgah police in connection with cases related to last year’s May 10 violence.

The court asked the police officials if the action had taken place in their jurisdiction.

As his car was found in Islamabad, the court observed that why did such incidents happen in the jurisdiction of the federal capital.

It regretted that the election for this constituency had been turned controversial even before the polls were held.

Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir noted that elections are going to be held in Islamabad and such incidents should not happen.

He added that if these candidates were not participating in the elections, could you say that the polls were conducted in a fair and transparent manner.

To this, the lawyer for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) replied that according to the law, the campaign time had ended 24 hours ago and the absence of one candidate would not affect the polls.

The state counsel requested the IHC to direct Nasir to approach the relevant court.
Justice Tahir ordered the Rawalpindi police chief to present Nasir in the court by 8:30 pm.

He further directed the Morgah SHO to appear in court in person.

Later, Nasir was presented before the IHC. His lawyer said their man had returned. The court asked the lawyer if he wanted to withdraw the case. To this, the lawyer replied in the affirmative.

The court then dismissed the case after the plea was withdrawn by the lawyer.

In a related development, PTI-affiliated independent candidate Raja Basharat, Nasir’s brother, dispelled some media reports that he had pulled out of the race for NA-55 constituency.

He said he condemned these “false and baseless” reports.

“I am participating in the election and a frontline soldier of the PTI,” he added.