LAHORE: The Punjab police told the Lahore High Court on Friday that 11 criminal cases had been registered against PTI senior vice-president Fawad Chaudhry in the province.

A report filed on behalf of the inspector general of police revealed that three FIRs had been registered against Chaudhry in Lahore by Sarwar Road and Racecourse police stations.

Multan Cantonment police lodged three and one each at Multan Jalilabad and Old Kotwali police stations. The report said the PTI leader had been declared innocent in one case registered by the New Airport police of Attock and two other cases lodged in Multan and Faisalabad had been cancelled.

Justice Anwarul Haq Pannun adjourned the further hearing of a petition by Chaudhry and sought details of cases against him by the Federal Investigation Agency.

In his petition, Chaudhry sought details of the cases registered against him by different law enforcement agencies.

HABEAS: Justice Anwarul Haq Pannun sought replies from the caretaker government of Punjab and the police on a habeas corpus petition seeking the recovery of former finance minister Salman Shah and two others from alleged illegal detention by the police.

Saleeha Fatima Shah filed the petition, saying that the police picked up her father Salman Shah, brother Jarrar Ali Shah and brother-in-law Jahanzeb Amin from their Sarwar Road house.

Petitioner’s counsel Azhar Siddique told the court that his client belonged to an honorable family in the country as she was a granddaughter of a former army chief.

He said the police asked the former finance minister to hand over custody of his daughter, claiming that her presence in the May 9 protests had been established in geofencing.

The judge issued notices to the respondents for submission of the replies on May 22.

Separately, Justice Farooq Haider restrained the police from extending any harassment to PTI Senator Ijaz Chaudhry and directed it to provide him with details of the cases registered against him by May 25.

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2023