IHC bars government from arresting PTI leaders

Showdown in IHC over Masjid-e-Nabwi case

By Staff Reporter

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday barred the government from arresting the leadership of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in a case registered against them under the blasphemy law after the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and members of his entourage were met with abusive language on his trip to Masjid-e-Nabwi.

The case was filed by the Punjab police against the former prime minister Imran Khan and several former cabinet ministers and key members from PTI. It alleged desecration of the Holy Prophet’s (PBUH) mosque, hooliganism and hurting the sentiments of Muslims.

The action against PTI leadership comes after several videos emerged on social media showing several people raising slogans of “thief” and “traitor” against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his delegation when they arrived at the Al-Masjid-e-Nabawi in late April.

Videos of the incident went viral on social media where Federal Minister for Narcotics Control Shahzain Bugti appeared to be harassed, while Federal Minister for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb endured verbal abuse.

Former information minister Fawad Chaudhry filed the writ petition in the IHC, calling for cases registered against the party’s leadership to be termed illegal. The IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah told the interior ministry to make sure that the PTI leaders were not arrested by the police or any other investigation agency.

PTI’s legal team comprising Advocate Faisal Fareed and Advocate Ali Bukhari filed the petition on behalf of senior party leader Fawad Chaudhry. It requested the IHC to issue directions to state authorities, the police, and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), to “immediately stop the unlawful and illegal harassment of Fawad and his colleagues”.

The petition also called for placing all the FIRs registered against the PTI leadership in various parts of the country on record and urged the court to hold the action of the FIA and the police as “illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional”.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, Secretary Ministry of Interior Yousaf Naseem Khokhar, FIA Director-General Muhammad Tahir Rai, and police chiefs of all provinces were made respondents in the petition.