LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday directed the Punjab police to furnish details of the cases, if any, registered against MPA Awais Ahmad Leghari and three other leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
On behalf of the petitioners, Advocate Rana Asadullah Khan appeared before the court and contended the government implicated the petitioners through supplementary statements in an already registered case regarding the violence committed on April 16 election of the chief minister.
Other petitioners include Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan, Attaullah Tarar and Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan.
The counsel said the case was registered against the MPAs of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and PML-Q for disrupting the voting for the chief minister and manhandling the then deputy speaker/ presiding officer.
He said the police by misleading the magistrate concerned got issued arrest warrants of the petitioners.
The counsel submitted that chief minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi turned hostile to the petitioners and resorted to political victimization by ordering fake cases against them.
He said the petitioners approached the police to get details of the cases against them but the officials flatly refused to share any information.
He asked the court to summon details of the cases from the police and also restrain it from arresting the petitioners in the politically motivated cases.
Justice Tariq Nadeem asked the counsel how the court could restrain the police from arresting anyone.
The judge, however, directed the police to submit details of the cases registered against the petitioners. The judge would resume the hearing on Wednesday.
On August 20, PML-N leaders had approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking protective bail in a case related to rioting in the Punjab Assembly.
A judicial magistrate had issued non-bailable arrest warrants for a dozen PML-N leaders, including prime minister’s special assistant Attaullah Tarar. The 12 PML-N leaders had filed a petition in the high court for protective bail.
A case was registered over the ruckus which had taken place in April when Hamza Shehbaz was elected as chief minister and PML-Q leader Chaudhry Perviaz Elahi was allegedly attacked. Several PTI and PML-Q leaders had already secured pre-arrested bail in the case.
During the hearing on Friday, Police station Qila Gujjar’s investigation officer had appeared before Judicial Magistrate Mudassir Hayat and sought the issuance of arrest warrants.
The police officer had told the judge the PML-N leaders had refused to show up for investigation despite being summoned in a case registered against them. The judge had then approved the arrest warrants of the politicians.
