LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday expressed displeasure at the federal and Punjab governments for not submitting a complete record of the cases registered against PTI leader Dr Shahbaz Gill despite repeated opportunities given to them.

Gill was present in the court along with his counsel when Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh asked a federal law officer about the absence of the interior secretary.

The law officer said the secretary interior was out of the country; however, the additional secretary interior was present in the court.

The additional secretary sought more time from the court to submit the record.

The visibly irked judge observed that the repeated opportunities sought by the government to present the record showed its male fide. The judge noted that the internet had made communication and sharing data a matter of a few minutes but the conduct of the government was very disappointing.

Advocate Ramzan Chaudhry, the counsel for Gill, said the report previously filed by the government was incomplete and vague. He said the government did not even disclose whether the arrest of the petitioner was needed.

A provincial law officer told the court that as per his knowledge, there was no case against the petitioner.

The judge observed that the court would dispose of the petition if the home secretary submitted a written statement.

The judge adjourned the hearing till Feb 6 and directed the home secretary to submit the record of the cases against the petitioner or a statement if there was no case.

The judge also extended the interim protective bail of Gill till the next hearing.

The judge had on Jan 19 granted the bail to Gill, subject to furnishing bail bonds of Rs50,000.

Talking to the reporters, Gill said the arrest of former information minister Fawad Chaudhry was a clear example of political victimisation. He said the PTI would face all oppression and illegal actions of the ‘imported’ government.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2023