- A team of the Anti Corruption Establishment (ACE) produced Dost Mazari before the magistrate on expiry of his two-day remand.
- A prosecutor of the ACE contended before the court that further custody of the suspect was required to complete the investigation.
- After hearing the arguments from both sides, the magistrate extended the physical remand of Dost Mazari for two days and directed the ACE to complete its investigation by the next hearing.
LAHORE: A judicial magistrate on Tuesday extended the physical remand of former deputy speaker of Punjab Assembly Dost Muhammad Mazari for another two days in a case of alleged illegal allotment of 2,500 kanal land in Rajanpur district.
A team of the Anti Corruption Establishment (ACE) produced Dost Mazari before the magistrate on expiry of his two-day remand.
A prosecutor of the ACE contended before the court that further custody of the suspect was required to complete the investigation. He said record relating to land measuring 8,717 acres was being investigated. He said the investigating officer wanted to take the suspect to Rojhan, which required at least two days.
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Advocate Farhad Ali Shah appeared on behalf of Mazari and opposed the request for further remand. He said the Multan bench of the Lahore High Court had already suspended the inquiry wherein the ACE arrested Mazari.
He said the act of the ACE amounted to contempt of court.
The counsel argued that his client had been implicated in the case purely on political consideration. He said nothing was required to be recovered from the custody of Mazari. Therefore, he asked the court to deny the ACE further remand and discharge the suspect in the case.
After hearing the arguments from both sides, the magistrate extended the physical remand of Dost Mazari for two days and directed the ACE to complete its investigation by the next hearing.
In a brief conversation with the media outside the court, Mazari said he was being subjected to political victimization. The former deputy speaker said he would face all ‘false’ cases against him.
Some supporters of Mazari also clashed with the officials of the ACE outside the court.
Mazari, being the deputy speaker, had conducted the first election of the Punjab chief minister after the resignation of Usman Buzdar wherein Hamza Shehbaz had defeated incumbent chief minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi. The election was marred with rumpus and violence as MPAs of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and PML-Q attacked Mazari.
