ISLAMABAD: An Islamabad anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Wednesday granted the capital police two-day physical remand of PTI President Pervaiz Elahi in a newly emerged terror case dating back to March 18.
The development comes a day after Elahi was re-arrested hours after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had suspended his detention under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) ordinance and directed his release.
The PTI leader has now been arrested at least 11 times in various cases since the start of June and after a statewide crackdown was launched against the PTI in the aftermath of the May 9 violence.
The posts on X (formerly Twitter) by the Islamabad police on Tuesday announcing Elahi’s release and his subsequent re-arrest had a time difference of a mere eight minutes. Police had said Elahi was detained in a case registered at the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) police station.
The PTI had shared footage of the latest episode and criticised authorities for Elahi’s latest arrest.
Earlier today, capital police presented the PTI leader before Duty Judge Shahrukh Arjumand at the Federal Judicial Complex (FJC). Footage of his arrival appeared to show Elahi holding onto someone’s hand for support.
Advocate Sardar Abdur Razzaq and defence counsel Ali Bukhari appeared on Elahi’s behalf while Prosecutor Tahir Kazim was also present.
During the hearing, the police sought 14-day physical remand of the former Punjab chief minister while his lawyers opposed it and urged the court to discharge Elahi from the case.
However, the court rejected the lawyer’s plea and handed Elahi over to the police instead on two-day physical remand.
During an informal conversation with reporters at the FJC, Elahi said, “I was kept at the Crime Investigation Agency police station the entire night”.
“Why would anyone meet me? I am the one who doesn’t want to meet anyone,” he said while responding to reporters.
When asked by a reporter if he planned to hold a press conference — an apparent reference to the manner in which dozens of PTI leaders quit the party following the May 9 incidents — Elahi replied, “Absolutely not”.
The ATC today handed him over to the capital police on two-day physical remand.
At the outset of the hearing, Elahi’s lawyers submitted a power of attorney. Razzaq informed the court that it was his client’s wish to go to the courtroom himself.
The judge then directed that Elahi be seated, after which he came to the rostrum. Subsequently, the police urged the court to grant them 14-day physical remand of the PTI leader.
Here, Razzaq began presenting his arguments to the court, opposing the police’s request. “A laughable case has been made against Pervaiz Elahi. He is being made the target of a political vendetta,” he argued.
He lamented that his client was discharged in numerous cases but was then re-arrested repeatedly. He also highlighted the IHC’s verdict of suspending Elahi’s detention under the MPO, as well as the LHC’s order preventing further arrest of the PTI leader.
“The court ordered that Parvez Elahi be dropped off at his home with security,” Razzaq stated, adding that the Islamabad police had “abducted” his client.
Recalling the LHC’s order from September 4, the lawyer said that it had ordered that Elahi be presented in court. “Citizens’ human rights are being violated,” he said.
Razzaq further said that the IHC had written in its order that the arrest was in violation of the LHC verdict and read the IHC court order out loud.
“The police have shredded the court’s orders into pieces. […] There is not a single incident against Pervaiz Elahi yet he is being arrested for the past three months.”
He alleged, “Pervaiz Elahi was brought to Islamabad on the pretext of having a medical checkup at Pims (Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences) and was put behind bars.”
The lawyer went on to inform the court that he went to the Police Lines, taking the IHC order with him. “The police made Pervaiz Elahi sit in my car and did not even let him meet his family,” he asserted.
“When we reached the Police Lines’ gate, Islamabad police arrested Parvez Elahi. The police made his lawyers come out of the car and took him to the police station after arresting him,” Razzaq apprised the court.
He further said that neither did the police inform them of the reason behind the arrest nor did they show an arrest warrant. Here, Elahi, while addressing Razzaq, said, “I was not allowed to sleep at the police station the entire night.”
The lawyer then said, “An attempt is being made to get Elahi to change his political association.”
Razzaq then contended that the former Punjab chief minister’s name was not even included in the March 18 FIR as it was filed against unidentified suspects.
He said that the incident concerned the day when PTI Chairman Imran Khan was presented before a court at the FJC, saying that Elahi was in Lahore at that time.
“Unknown men are those who cannot be identified. Pervaiz Elahi has served as chief minister twice and belongs to a renowned political family — how can he be unknown?” the lawyer asked.
“Even a common man can see that state terrorism is being committed against Pervaiz Elahi. If you do not have to obey the courts then shut them down. All cases against Elahi have come to an end [but] their hearts were not satisfied so they filed a terror case,” he added.
Razzaq urged the court to discharge the PTI president from the case and concluded his arguments.
Then defence counsel Bukhari started presenting his arguments: “The court has to decide whether this is actually a remand case or a political case,” he said.
He argued that the LHC orders were also applicable to other courts. “Pervaiz Elahi was in police custody. What did the investigation officer do in 24 hours?” he asked.
Bukhari contended that the police request of physical remand “had no mention of investigation” and that the police did not have “anything to investigate against Elahi”.
“The court will have to see whether an investigation is even required or not. What will be the reason for requiring remand? They would have to recover a cane, car, or matchstick [but] there is nothing as such in the case”.
“The situation is such that tomorrow, lawyers will be pleading for each other’s bail,” Bukhari quipped as he urged the court to discharge Elahi from the case.
Subsequently, prosecutor Tahir Kazim began his arguments. He contended that Elahi’s lawyers had twisted the facts.
He noted that the IHC had suspended Elahi’s detention order under the MPO. “The IHC order said Elahi should be released if he was not wanted in any other case,” he said.
“He was wanted in this case which is why we arrested him,” the prosecutor said.
He added that Elahi was accused of sending people to the FJC and providing them monetary support. He said that officials needed to probe who these people were, in which cars they came and the type of monetary support they were provided.
“We released Elahi yesterday on the IHC’s order and then arrested him later,” the prosecutor said. The court then reserved the verdict in the case.
