File photo
An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Islamabad on Friday rejected the prosecution’s plea for 10-day physical remand of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President Parvez Elahi in the Federal Judicial Complex attack case and sent him to Adiala Jail on a 14-day judicial remand.
Elahi was presented in the court of Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain after the completion of a two-day physical remand in the case, which was granted earlier this week after he was re-arrested by Islamabad Police following his release on orders of the Islamabad High Court (IHC). He had been detained under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order.
During proceedings, Elahi’s lawyer opposed the prosecutor’s plea for an extension in his client’s physical remand, arguing the former Punjab chief minister was nominated in the case only two days before his arrest. Reiterating that all cases against his client were politically motivated, he said Elahi had jointed the PTI in April and could not have been involved in the alleged attack by party workers on the Federal Judicial Complex on March 19. Another of Elahi’s lawyers, similarly, said his client should be freed as his involvement in the attack case had not been proven.
At one point Elahi took the rostrum and claimed there was no jail in Punjab where he had not been incarcerated. “[Caretaker] Punjab Chief Minister [Mohsin Naqvi] is my relative but he is my bitter opponent,” he alleged.
Rejecting the plea for physical remand, the judge then issued notices to the respondents for Sept. 11 to hear Elahi’s bail application.