In a dramatic turn of events, a team of the Islamabad police on Tuesday tried to capture PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry moments after he left court on being granted bail by the high court in the illegal arrest case. 

As the PTI leader was about to head home, a police vehicle stopped right in front of his car, prompting him to run for safety towards court. Visuals of Fawad Chaudhry’s dash towards court reflected the apathy of police as he once slipped and seemed gasping for breath. 

Moments earlier, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) accepted the bail plea of PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry and ordered his immediate release. The court also directed the law-enforcement agencies (LEAs) not to arrest Mr Chaudhry in any case for the next two days. The judge declared the PTI leader’s arrest illegal. 

The court announced the verdict hours after it reserved it on a plea challenging the arrest of the former federal minister.  

۔#PakistanUnderFascism pic.twitter.com/a3tgyxqz2Y— PTI (@PTIofficial) May 16, 2023

At the outset of the hearing, Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb ordered to produce Fawad in court. Fawad’s lawyer Faisal Chaudhry told the court that his client was present in an armoured vehicle. The PTI leader was then produced in court. 

The judge said the chief justice had issued an order which was not followed by the IG Islamabad or anyone else. “When you caught him, was the order shown at that time. There were several ways to confirm the order. May 9 was not a happy day, so the concerns were valid.” 

The court asked for undertaking from the petitioners that they would not violate the Article 144 and law, otherwise there would be proceedings for contempt of court agaist the parliamentarians who might also be disqualified. The judge said the court was giving time to the district magistrate and the IGP to look into the matter. 

Taking part in the hearing, the Advocate General Islamabad told the court that the court order’s copy was not given to the IG office and the law officers and biometrics was also not done.

Justice Aurangzeb intervened, saying “you are not a judge, we have to see whether it is biometric or not”. 

The advocate general hastened to add that Fawad was not arrested in any case. Had he been arrested in any case, it would have been necessary to present him before the magistrate. The court had prevented him from being arrested in any case, and if he was arrested in a case, he would have been released. 

He further said the DC was not a party even in the petition which the court stopped from arresting, adding the PTI leader had to prove by his conduct that he is a peaceful citizen as the nation had lost billions of rupees in the May 9  mayhem.

Justice Aurangzeb said the court wasn’t restricting any action against him [Fawad].

Fawad Chaudhry informed the judge that he remained in the high court the whole day [May 9] and spent next days in the Supreme Court.

The Advocate General said in Imran Khan’s case, the court mentioned the MPO separately while preventing arrest, adding had they stopped arrest only in two cases, arrest could have been made under the MPO.

Advocate Babar Awan said as the DC had now come to know about the IHC’s order, the court should extend the order to stop the arrest of Fawad, and give him time to approach the relevant court.

The court inquired whether the police were shown any document to stop Fawad from arrest. To this, Babar Awan said when the order was announced, the police officer expressed his inability to understand English language. The concerns relating to Fawad’s arrest had no relevant ground, he added. 

Justice Aurangzeb said the [May 9] events should be taken seriously. “Fawad Chaudhry is an important person as he has been a federal minister.

“Don’t you know about the [mentality] of mob in Pakistan? When you say take to the streets, do you mean that only noble people should go out? What other option is left with the District Magistrate except to pass this order on such a matter?,” the judge questioned. “My problem is that I am very clear and open. The purpose of summoning Fawad Chaudhry to the court was to release him, but this court has not seen this material before,” he remarked.  

Earlier talking to reporters at the court, PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry wondered how thousands of people could be tried under the Pakistan Army Act after the military vowed to bring all those involved in May 9 violence to justice.

“How would they pursue the cases against eight to ten thousand people,” Fawad asked while responding to journalists’ questions when he was brought to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for an appearance in a case.