IHC has mandated that Asad Umar be freed.
The court orders the head of the PTI to file an affidavit and remove two tweets.
On Wednesday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) released Asad Umar, a former federal minister and current leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
The IHC heard the former federal minister’s requests for a stay of arrest and disclosure of the charges against him. In court, Umar’s attorney Babar Awan made an appearance.
At today’s session, Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb stated that the court is reserving judgement in both cases in which bail is being sought and ordered the PTI leader to file an affidavit.
“If the affidavit is violated, then forget about your political career,” said Justice Aurangzeb.
Two of Umar’s tweets, according to Justice Aurangzeb, ought to be removed immediately. They will “comply with your order,” Awan replied.
Justice Aurangzeb responded to Awan’s request for a production order for the PTI leader by stating that he already had the cases against Umar on his desk.
Awan also asked for two days so that Umar can turn himself in to the appropriate court after his discharge.
More specifically, “we want protective bail in the criminal cases registered against Umar,” he explained.
After the hearing, Babar Awan told the reporters that the judge had said that Umar would be re-arrested if he were released, despite the fact that the judge had previously said that he would not.
Awan claims he responded, “there will be no press conference,” and added, “we are not afraid of arrests.”
The attorney insisted he still supports PTI leader Imran Khan.
I, along with millions of others, support Imran Khan. He also said, “We are not hiding…we will fix this country.”
He further added that Umar has been charged in a total of eleven different legal proceedings and that he has asked for protective bail in two of those cases, both of which were initiated while he was in Karachi.
After the arrest of party leader Imran Khan on May 9, Umar was taken into custody on May 10 from inside the IHC.
The May 9 rioters will be prosecuted, the COAS has said.
The Islamabad police reportedly took the PTI leader into custody from a gate close to the writ branch of the IHC.
On its official Twitter account, the PTI described the arrest of its chairman as “another arrest under the court premises by this fascist regime.”
Despite court orders to stop, it appears that the crackdown on PTI leaders has continued unabated.
Hours after the IHC had ordered his release, top PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi was re-arrested by Punjab Police outside the Adiala Jail.
In addition to Qureshi, the leader of the PTI, Musarrat Jamshed Cheema, was reportedly re-arrested, as reported by Express News.
