Islamabad: An Islamabad-based court on Friday rejected a plea seeking an extension in the physical remand of PTI’s Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry and sent him to jail on a 14-day judicial remand in a case related to alleged incitement of violence against a constitutional institution.
Fawad Chaudhry was presented in an Islamabad district and sessions court on Friday, wherein the prosecutor had requested the court to extend the physical remand for further investigations after his two-day remand with the police expired.
Fawad Chaudhry was presented before the court amid tight security.
The ECP’s plea for an extension in Fawad’s physical remand was heard in the courtroom of Judge Raja Waqas Ahmed.
Today’s hearing
During the hearing today, the prosecutor told Judicial Magistrate Waqas Ahmad Raja that Fawad was spreading hatred against the constitutional institution and was also trying to create unrest.
“[His] statement is a threat to the lives of ECP’s members,” the prosecutor said, informing the court that Fawad’s voice has been matched and his photogrammetry test has to be carried out in Lahore.
Seeking an extension in his remand, the ECP’s lawyer, Saad Hassan, said that a day had already passed as the remand was approved at 12 am on Wednesday.
The ECP lawyer told the court that Fawad’s statement was available on record, adding that the PTI leader had also acknowledged his speech. “No one can object to the speech. “The accused has accepted his statement.”
He added that the election commission’s employees were told that they do “the work of a clerk”. “We were threatened that they (PTI supporters) will reach our homes.”
At this, Fawad’s counsel Babar Awan accused the election commission of colluding with the government against PTI. “We are being blamed and pressured.”
The ECP lawyer responded that Fawad was a senior politician but “no one is above the law”. He told the court that it was mandatory to search the PTI leader’s home. “It is important to recover Fawad’s laptop and mobile phone in his presence”.
“Fawad’s statement is not one person’s statement but an entire group’s narrative,” the ECP lawyer said. “A campaign has not only been launched against the ECP but also the top officials of the election commission.”
Following the conclusion of the arguments, the judge approved Fawad’s request to have his handcuffs removed inside the court and also reserved its verdict on the issue of remand extension.
Later, in its verdict, the court sent Fawad to judicial remand instead of physical remand.
