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An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Islamabad on Wednesday granted police two-day physical remand of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President Chaudhry Parvez Elahi for investigations into a case pertaining to an attack on the Judicial Complex Islamabad.
After the court announced it reserved verdict on his remand, the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) took the former Punjab chief minister into custody. The most recent remand of Elahi’s came after the Islamabad High Court (IHC), on Tuesday, ordered his release after suspending his detention under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order.
Within minutes of his release, however, he was re-arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Division of Islamabad Police over his alleged involvement in an attack on the Judicial Complex in the federal capital on March 18. While Elahi was never a named respondent in the case, it had included several “unidentified” persons, which a spokesperson of Islamabad Police said he was under investigation for.
Last week, the Lahore High Court (LHC) ordered Elahi’s release from the custody of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and directed Punjab police not to re-arrest him in any other case. Within hours of his release, however, he was re-arrested under 3-MPO by the Islamabad Police. The PTI leader has been under arrest since June, with every release order followed by a re-arrest, despite multiple court interventions.
Also on Wednesday, the LHC issued a contempt of court notice the Islamabad chief commissioner over his failure in complying with orders to present Elahi before the court and directed the official to submit a response within 7 days. During proceedings, LHC Justice Mirza Viqas Rauf questioned how the court’s order was ignored, noting that the PTI president’s arrest by Islamabad Police had also been in violation of court orders barring his re-arrest.