LAHORE: A Lahore High Court division bench on Tuesday recused itself from a petition by anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan challenging his physical remand in a case of violence outside Zaman Park residence of PTI founder Imran Khan.

The hearing of the petition was fixed before the bench comprising Justice Aalia Neelum and Justice Farooq Haider.

Advocate Azhar Siddique appeared before the court on behalf of the petitioner.

However, the judges recused themselves from the petition on personal reasons and sent the file to the chief justice with a request to fix its hearing before any other appropriate bench.

The petition said the trial court granted the remand of the petitioner to the police without appreciating the facts of the case. It stated that the petitioner was not a member of any political party. It argued that the petitioner being a media person was present outside the Zaman Park to cover a peaceful protest.

The petition asked the high court to set aside the remand of the petitioner and order his release.

Racecourse police had on March 1 obtained a five-day remand of the anchorperson from an anti-terrorism court.

The investigation officer (IO) told the court that the suspect had been nominated in the case on the statements of the witnesses. He said the custody of the suspect was required for further investigation and photogrammetry test.

The court had directed the police to produce the suspect again on Wednesday (today).

Previously, a special court for anti-corruption granted post-arrest bail to Imran Riaz in a graft case about the contract of Dhrabi Lake in Chakwal.

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2024