KARACHI: A constitutional bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday directed the Sindh authorities to file the complete list of cases lodged against former president Dr Arif Alvi in Sindh.

The two-judge bench headed by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha said that the statements providing requisite details must be signed by the inspector general (IG) of Sindh police and director of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Sindh.

Citing the home department secretary, Sindh IG, interior ministry and FIA as respondents, the former president had petitioned the SHC, asserting that he belonged to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf which had been subjected to a campaign of targeted persecution for an extended period.

On Dec 4, the SHC granted a 20-day protective bail to the petitioner to surrender before the trial courts in three cases lodged in Punjab.

The petitioner also pleaded to declare any move on the part of the provincial government to arrest or prosecute him as illegal and to restrain the provincial authorities from detaining the petitioner or filing FIRs against him. He also sought directives for the respondents to produce the record about the cases lodged against him.

On Thursday, the lawyer for the petitioner argued that a number of FIRs had been lodged against the former president in Sindh and he was unaware of them.

Therefore, the bench directed the authorities concerned to file the details till Dec 19.

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2024