pakistan

Islamabad court sends Fawad Chaudhry to Adiala jail on judicial remand in sedition case

Published

1 year ago

January 27, 2023

admin

Islamabad court sends Fawad Chaudhry to Adiala jail on judicial remand in sedition case

A judge in the federal capital on Friday turned down a plea for extension in physical remand of PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry in a sedition case.

Judicial Magistrate Waqas Ahmed Raja has sent the former information minister to the Adiala Jail on 14-day judicial remand. The judge announced the verdict after hearing arguments from Fawad’s lawyer Babar Awan and the counsel for the Election Commission of Pakistan.

The PTI bigwig was produced before the court of the judicial magistrate in handcuffs after his two-day remand ended on Friday in the case filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for threatening the officers of the electoral body in a speech. During the hearing, the prosecutor pleaded the court to extend physical remand of the PTI leader as the investigation team needed more time to complete the probe. Reading out the content of the FIR, he said the former minister attempted to incite violence against ECP officials and their families.

He said voice-matching test of the suspect had been completed while there was a need to take him to Lahore for photogrammetric test. He also sought permission to search the house of Imran Khan’s aide to recover laptop and mobile phone. He said the role of the electoral body was crucial in the coming months due to elections but Mr Chaudhry was trying to put pressure on the ECP.

Fawad Chaudhry’s lawyer Babar Awan expressed reservations over treatment meted out to his client, stating that the PTI leader was treated as a “terrorist”. He said the statement of Mr Chaudhry was reflection of public opinion against the ECP. He also requested the court to discharge his client’s name from the case.

On Wednesday, Duty Magistrate Naveed Khan handed over the PTI stalwart in the custody of Islamabad police on two-day physical remand after he was arrested from his residence in Lahore in a case filed over hurling threats at officials of the Election Commission of Pakistan and their families. The investigating officer had sought eight-day physical remand of the former minister but the request was rejected.

At the outset of the hearing, PTI’s lawyers requested the court to remove the handcuffs of Fawad Chaudhary. Mr Chaudhary asked the court to tell the Islamabad police not to do this as there are 1,500 policemen outside and he is handcuffed, adding, “I am a lawyer of the Supreme Court and I want to talk to my family for five minutes and lawyers for five minutes.”

“It is unfortunate that we are taking revenge against each other in politics,” he said. Fawad requested that the case against him be dismissed, arguing that if the case continued, free speech would end in the country.

The counsel for the ECP, Saad Hassan, read out the text of the FIR. In his arguments and said the ECP was a constitutional institution and it has all the right to hold elections. He said the commission was being targeted under a well-thought-out plan, and the accused tried to provoke the citizens. The purpose of his speech was to provoke people, he said.

Saad Hassan told the court that Fawad targeted the families of the ECP members, adding that the PTI leader was promoting hatred against the institution. He went on to say that the people behind the speech also needed to be identified, adding that there was sufficient evidence in the media against the PTI leader.

The ECP lawyer further added that the charges of sedition were also included in the FIR. He said the members of the Commission were being threatened, the accused had been remanded and further investigation needed to be done.

Mr Chaudhry said: “I am grateful that they have included sedition charges in the case against me, putting me in the ranks of great leaders like Nelson Mandela and Abul Kalam Azad.” He added that the case against him should be dismissed, arguing that if the case continued, free speech would end in the country.

The PTI leader further said there shouldn’t be any case against him; in this way, democracy would end and no one wiould be able to criticise. “I never gave a speech but was addressing media during which I was misquoted.” “I am the spokesperson for the PTI, and whatever I say is party’s policy. It is not necessary that what I say is my own personal opinion,” he argued.

Lawyers Ali Bukhari and Qaiser Imam, representing Fawad, also presented their arguments in court. Mr Bukhari argued that the FIR against Fawad should have been registered in Lahore, stating that, according to the law, a case must be registered where the alleged crime took place.

On the other hand, Mr Imam questioned the applicability of the charges and whether a case could be registered at someone s request. He also stated that the remarks made by the PTI leader were not within the jurisdiction of the Kohsar police station as they were not made in Islamabad.

Post Views: 64

Up Next

Sheikh Rashid claims plan being hatched to ‘assassinate’ Imran Khan

Don't Miss

Maryam Nawaz departs for Lahore

Click to comment

pakistan

Govt wants more women in police department: Maryam Nawaz

Published

1 day ago

April 25, 2024

admin

Govt wants more women in police department: Maryam Nawaz

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has said government wants to increase number of women in the police department.

Maryam, while addressing the passing-out parade ceremony at Chung Police Training College, said, “I salute you all. I am happy the first Sword of Honour has been awarded to a female police officer. I am proud of you. I was waiting for this event since taking oath as chief minister, she said.

“When I wore the police uniform for the first time, I realised it is a big responsibility,” said the chief minister and added she was happy to see 530 women passing out.

She said she happy to see women police officers performing duties.

“When I wore the uniform for the first time today, I felt it was a big responsibility. I am proud of women serving in police department,” said CM Maryam.

She said there were 7,000 women police personnel serving in Punjab. “I want to increase women participation in Punjab police. Lady cops are superhuman. Women are soft hearted so they forgive.

However, there should be no tenderness in your heart for the oppressor,” said the chief minister and asked the lady police officers to take pity on the oppressed and hold the oppressor accountable for his misdeeds.

“THERE IS NO REVENGE IN MY HEART”

Maryam said there was no feelings of revenge in her heart. “If, being the chief minister, I decide something against someone, I do it with a heavy heart,” she said.

“To be a chief minister is not an easy task. I had to make hectic efforts reach this place,” she said.
She paid glowing tribute to her father Nawaz Sharif and uncle Shehbaz Sharif.

PASSING OUT PARADE

Earlier, a passing out parade was held at Chung Police Training College. Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz attended the ceremony as a special guest.

Maryam inspected the parade dressed in police uniform. She also distributed prizes to police officers who exhibited excellent performance.

Post Views: 11

pakistan

Supreme Court reinstates Balochistan Assembly speaker, annuls ECP’s decision

Published

1 day ago

April 25, 2024

admin

Supreme Court reinstates Balochistan Assembly speaker, annuls ECP's decision

The Supreme Court on Thursday annulled the decision of Election Commission (ECP) and reinstated Balochistan Assembly Speaker Abdul Khaliq Achakzai.

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, also annulled the ECP’s order of re-polling at 12 polling stations of PB 51 Chaman.

Justice Khan asked the ECP counsel under which regulation the commission ordered re-election at 12 polling stations?

Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar remarked that the ECP considered only 12 polling stations but ignored others.

Justice Khan remarked that the ECP had neither conducted an inquiry nor followed any rules. The DG Law submitted that the ECP took into account those 12 polling stations regarding which it had received plea. There was high voter turnout in these 12 polling stations.

Justice Mazhar said that the ECP should have taken into account the entire constituency. Had the ECP performed according to rules, people would not have had to come to court.

The court referred the case back to the ECP after consulting the parties and ordered the commission to decide the issue within 10 days.

It may be remembered that the ECP had ordered re-polling on the application of Khaliq’s opposing candidate Asghar Khan Achakzai and withdrew the notification of his success. PML-N’s candidate Khaliq challenged the ECP decision.

Post Views: 11

pakistan

Govt, Opp prepare power-sharing framework for NA committees

Published

1 day ago

April 25, 2024

admin

Govt, Opp prepare power-sharing framework for NA committees

The government and opposition on Thursday prepared a power-sharing formula for formation of National Assembly committees, after which the negotiations entered the final stage.

The government alliance will get chairmanship of 26 committees of the National Assembly while opposition will have chairmanship of 11 committees.

Similarly, the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee will be from the opposition and the chairman of the Kashmir Committee will be appointed from the government side.

The speaker will be the chairman of the National Assembly House Business Advisory Committee.

According to the framework, standing committees will have 13 members and Public Accounts Committee will have 16 members from the government alliance.

Likewise, Kashmir Committee will have 15 members while House Business Advisory will have 18 members from the coalition government.

The number of opposition members in the standing committees of the National Assembly, Public Accounts Committee and Kashmir Committee will be 7-7.

Apart from this, the chairman of 14 committees of the National Assembly will be from the Muslim League-N, while PPP will get chairmanship of eight committees.

MQM will get chairmanships of two committees. Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) will get one chairmanship each.

10 committees will be chaired by independent members supported by PTI while one committee will be chaired by JUI.

Out of the 20 members of the standing committees, 14 members will be appointed from the government side and six from the opposition parties.

Each standing committee will have seven members from PML-N, four from PPP and one member each from PML-Q and MQM.

In the standing committee, five independent members of PTI and one member of JUI will be given membership as committee members.

Of the 23 members of the Public Accounts Committee, 16 MPs will be included from the government and seven from the opposition.
About 22 members of the Privileges Committee, 15 members will be included from the government and seven from the opposition side. Of 16 members in the government assurances committee, 11 will be from the government and five from the opposition.

In the 22-member Kashmir Committee, the government’s quota will be 15 while the opposition will contribute with seven members. Of the 26 members of the House Business Advisory Committee, 18 will be from the government and eight from the opposition.

Post Views: 9