LAHORE: A Lahore High Court five-judge bench on Friday gave varied remarks on the violent protests by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) against the arrest of its chairman Imran Khan in an alleged corruption case.

Headed by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, the bench was hearing a petition of former chief minister Usman Buzdar seeking details of cases registered against him.

Justice Aalia Neelum, Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh, Justice Anwarul Haq Pannun and Justice Amjad Rafiq were the other members of the bench.

Justice Sheikh asked an additional advocate general whether it was possible to arrest a person hours after the registration of an FIR.

The judge observed that the court could not close its eyes on what happened during the last one year.

Justice Neelum observed that a report should also be summoned on the registration of cases against the predecessors by every succeeding government during the last 10 years.

The judge said another report should be sought on the role of political leadership in the time of crisis. She observed that former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated but the leadership of her party played its sensible role.

Justice Najafi observed that the arrest of politicians was not unusual but what happened after the arrest of the PTI chairman was never seen.

The government’s law officer thanked the judges for showing concern over the violence in the country.

However, Justice Pannun observed that the government should not portray itself innocent as what happened was not a result of one day.

The judge said the reaction was natural if a political leader would be arrested by rangers instead of police and dragged by collar.

He said the highest responsibility lied with the state.

Justice Pannun also questioned the non-implementation of the Supreme Court order by the government.

Justice Sheikh warned the law officer of issuing a notice of contempt when he said courts fixed hearings at nights but nobody raised objections.

Buzdar’s counsel argued that political cases had been registered against his client. He said the petitioner was regularly appearing in the inquiries before the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE).

He asked the court to summon a complete record of the cases registered against the petitioner.

After hearing the arguments, the bench reserved its verdict on the petition.

INVESTIGATION: The caretaker government of Punjab on Friday told the Lahore High Court that PTI Chairman Imran Khan joined the investigation of all the cases registered against him.

A law officer submitted a report before a larger bench regarding the details of the cases registered against Khan till date.

The report revealed that as many as 29 cases were registered in Islamabad against the former prime minister and nine in Punjab. It said Khan had been discharged in two cases in Lahore.

The lawyer also presented the FIRs of three cases relating to fresh violence occurred in Lahore after the arrest of Khan.

Headed by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, the bench adjourned the hearing of the petition due to unavailability of the PTI chief’s counsel. The bench was told the counsel, Barrister Salman Safdar, was busy before the Islamabad High Court.

The petition of Khan alleges that the caretaker chief minister of Punjab seems to have supported the federal government in its political vendetta.

It argues that the facts and the circumstances clearly show that there is a scheme by the ruling coalition to deprive Imran Khan of his liberty and to prevent him from contesting elections.

It pleads that subjecting an individual to numerous proceedings in different jurisdictions on frivolous cases of the same cause of actions cannot be accepted in the law.

The petition asks the court to declare all the FIRs, inquiries and call-up notices against the petitioner as illegal and in violation of his fundamental rights. It also urges the court to summon comprehensive reports from the respondents about the cases registered against the petitioner and restrain them from taking coercive measures against him.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2023