Courtroom bursts into laughter over judge’s remarks
The Lahore High Court on Friday expressed reservations over pleas seeking the release of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf leaders and workers presently under voluntary arrest.
“First you people decided to voluntarily offer arrests, boarded prison vans with your own consent and now you have come to increase the court’s burden seeking recovery,” Justice Shehram Sarwar remarked as he headed the proceedings.
Petitioners senator Ijaz Ch, Syeda Nuria Humaira Rafique, wife of Waleed Iqbal, and others filed petitions requesting the court to direct the concerned quarters to produce the PTI’s detained leadership, including “Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Asad Umar, Umar Sarfraz Cheema, Azam Swati, Waleed Iqbal, Murad Rass and several others before the court after recovering them from illegal detention of the respondents”.
As proceedings commenced, Justice Shehram asked how and when were the leaders and workers taken into custody. To which the counsels responded that more than 100 PTI leaders and workers have been kept in illegal custody.
They submitted that those detained had been taken into custody as part of the movement offering voluntary arrests in a bid to uphold the supremacy of the Constitution.
Justice Shehram Sarwar Chaudhary heard the PTI’s pleas. During the hearing, the court inquired the petitioner’s lawyer about why the party members have been arrested. At this, the lawyer said the party has started a “Jail Bharo” movement. Justice Chaudhary asked why they are playing with the courts.
To this, the lawyer said: “We are not asking for bail, these are symbolic arrests and we are here to protect the rights of the leaders.” The courtroom burst into laughter at the lawyer’s reply.
After this, the court remarked that “you were asking yourself to make arrests, now that they are arrested, what’s the emergency?”
PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s son, Zain Qureshi, also appeared in the court.
“I did not get arrested but my father was and I am not allowed to meet him,” said Qureshi’s son.
At this, Justice Chaudhary replied: “Go to a place where Section 144 is imposed, you will get arrested and will also be able to meet him.”
His remarks, once again, caused laughter in the room.
Urging the court to allow the family to meet the former foreign minister, Zain Qureshi confirmed that his father was indeed under arrest.
“You can go to Charing Cross if you wanted to meet him,” Justice Shehram remarked.
Zain Qureshi responded that the family had done so but were told that “their arrests were not made”.
One of the lawyers requested the court to seek a report on the matter from the provincial government. “What report should be sought?” the judge asked.
The counsel argued that neither was due process followed in the arrests nor were the arrested individuals presented before any court of law.
Upon this, the judge said that “your concern is why your leaders and workers have been taken away from Lahore, in that case, you should have requested the home secretary to put them under house arrest instead”.
The counsel pleaded with the court to seek replies from the concerned authorities and continue hearing on the matter today. However, the court rejected the request.
Nonetheless, Justice Shehram sought replies from concerned quarters by February 27.
