The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday suspended the detention of PTI President Parvez Elahi under the Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) and ordered his release.
On Friday, the Lahore High Court (LHC) had ordered that the former Punjab chief minister be released along with a restraining order against his possible arrest by any agency or preventive detention.
However, hours after he was released from Adiala Jail, an Islamabad police team, assisted by the Punjab police, had intercepted a white SUV near the FCC underpass in which Elahi was travelling to his house along with lawyer Sardar Latif Khosa.
The police personnel had shifted Elahi into a white car with no licence plate. The car drove him to Islamabad. Visuals of the arrest drama had gone viral on social media.
According to the capital police, Elahi was taken into custody on orders of the district magistrate under Section 3 of the MPO.
Section 3 of MPO empowers the government to arrest and detain suspected persons. It states: “The government, if satisfied that with a view to preventing any person from acting in any manner prejudicial to public safety or the maintenance of public order, it is necessary to do, may, by an order in writing, direct the arrest and detention in such custody […] and [the] government, if satisfied that for the aforesaid reasons, it is necessary so to do, may extend from time to time the period of such detention, for a period not exceeding six months at a time.”
Subsequently, Elahi — who was moved to Attock jail — had approached the IHC against his detention, urging the court to declare it as “patently illegal, unlawful and without lawful authority”.
In the petition, Elahi had requested the IHC to set aside the detention order and issue directives for his release. He had cited the interior secretary, district magistrate, the Islamabad police chief and the Adiala Jail’s superintendent as respondents in the case.
On Tuesday, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri took up Elahi’s plea. The court suspended the PTI leader’s detention order and also ordered his release. The court also issued a notice to the duty magistrate who ordered Elahi’s detention.
Further, the court also summoned Elahi at the next hearing and ordered him to not issue any kind of statement until the next hearing. The hearing was subsequently adjourned till Tuesday (September 12).
During the hearing, Elahi’s lawyer, Sardar Abdul Raziq Khan, contended that his client had been in jail for the past three months and questioned how he could have caused harm to public order. He also read out the PTI leader’s detention order out loud in court.
“Parvez Elahi has not even issued any statement in four months,” the lawyer said. Khan pointed out that there was no case registered against Elahi in Islamabad and he had been discharged from a corruption case.
He said that Elahi was detained by Islamabad police hours after he was released by the LHC. At this point, Justice Jahangiri asked if Elahi had taken out any rallies or committed any violence, to which the lawyer responded in the negative.
The lawyer then pointed out that contempt of court proceedings were under way against the Islamabad deputy commissioner for issuing such an order against PTI’s Shehryar Afridi.
Justice Jahangiri then asked the lawyer when Elahi was first arrested, to which Khan said the PTI leader was first arrested on June 1. The judge observed that Elahi had been detained for more than three months.
LHC issues contempt notice to Islamabad police chief
On Monday, the LHC had ordered for Elahi to be produced today and also issued a contempt notice to the Islamabad police chief for arresting him despite an injunctive order.
The judge issued the directive on two separate petitions filed by Qaisera Elahi, the wife of the former chief minister, challenging the arrest of her husband and seeking contempt proceedings against the Islamabad police.
The judge had heard the initial arguments of the petitioner’s counsel and summoned Lahore’s DIGs operations and investigation at 10am. However, the officers did not appear when the judge resumed hearing.
The judge was informed by the police that both the DIGs were out of the province for official work. Later, DIG Security Kamran Adil appeared before the court, but the judge told the officer that he was not a party in the case.
On being summoned, Punjab Inspector General Capt Usman Anwar, accompanied by Advocate General for Punjab (AGP) Khalid Ishaq, appeared before the court at 2pm.
To court’s queries, the IG said he was not responsible for the actions by the Islamabad police. “This job is not permanent. I will be responsible if any of my officers is found guilty of contempt of court. I will order a complete investigation into the matter of Parvez Elahi,” Anwar stated before the court.
He sought time to submit a written reply and assured the court that both the DIGs would also appear on their return from the other province.
In his written order, Justice Rafiq observed that the Islamabad magistrate had no authority to issue any order for arrest or detention of the detainee who was residing and present in another province and that too in the custody of NAB or the court.
The judge said the vires of such order can be challenged at an appropriate forum, but by all means the Islamabad police had interfered into the jurisdiction of the LHC and also violated its order.
The judge observed that if the federal police were acting under the order of the magistrate, they could simply report back to the magistrate with a copy of the LHC stay order, but the arrest was illegal.
Commenting on the scenes of Elahi’s arrest, Justice Rafiq observed: “What the people of Pakistan saw with pain on media forced me to say that if a man of such a political stature, that too in his 70s, is lifted up by his arms and legs by unknown persons (later told as Islamabad police), people must believe, the Constitution they give to this country is in danger.”
Elahi rushed to Pims
Elahi also underwent different tests at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) on Monday after his health deteriorated in Attock Jail.
Dr Mubashir Daha, a spokesperson for Pims, told Dawn that the former Punjab chief minister was examined by doctors of the hospital’s emergency ward and he was in good health.
“He was brought to the hospital for a routine check-up due to which blood pressure was checked and some lab tests were also conducted. He was in good health so no medical board was established,” he added.
After examination, the former chief minister was shifted back to the jail under strict security.
According to jail sources, Elahi had complained about his health condition to the jail authorities on Monday morning.
Subsequently, a three-member medical team, headed by medical superintendent of Attock District Hospital Dr Jawad Ellahi, examined the PTI leader and referred him to Pims for further examination and tests.
