Freedom remains elusive for Elahi as he was held moments after IHC suspends detention
Pakistan
Elahi rearrested shortly after IHC suspends detention
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - In a bizarre turn of events, former Punjab chief minister Parvez Elahi was arrested again shortly after the Islamabad High Court ordered his release.
Elahi was arrested from outside the Islamabad Police Lines hours after the Islamabad High Court suspended his detention order.
He was arrested by the Counter-Terrorism Department in a case registered at the CTD police station of Islamabad. Police said a team of the CTD had arrested him.
— Islamabad Police (@ICT_Police) September 5, 2023
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf also took to Twitter and condemned the arrest of the former chief minister.
— PTI (@PTIofficial) September 5, 2023
Earlier, declaring detention of Chaudhry Parvez Elahi under the Maintenance of Public Order-III (MPO 3) null and void, the IHC ordered immediate release of the PTI leader and issued notices to both parties.
IHC's Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri conducted hearing of the case.
The court ordered the authorities to produce Parvez Elahi on the next date of hearing. Until the next hearing, Parvez Elahi should not be part of any provocative activity, the court said.
The court further said Elahi would not issue any statement to media till the next date of hearing.
Pervez Elahi's lawyer told the court that the Lahore High Court had ordered release of Elahi on Sept 1.
The LHC barred law-enforcement agencies from arresting the PTI president in any other case. However, the Islamabad police violated the order of the Lahore High Court and arrested the former chief minister.
The counsel for Elahi further said the former chief minister was "snatched" from the Lahore police and brought to Islamabad. The officials dressed in plainclothes picked him up and put him in the car.
Later, the Islamabad High Court annulled Parvez Elahi's arrest under MPO 3 and ordered his immediate release.
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday had issued a show-cause notice to Islamabad IGP Dr Akbar Nasir Khan during hearing of a plea for production of PTI President Parvez Elahi in court.
On Friday, Elahi was rearrested by Islamabad police near his residence shortly after the LHC released him with a restraining order against any potential arrest by a government agency or preventive detention.
The arrest took place when an Islamabad police team, assisted by Lahore police, intercepted a white SUV in which Elahi was traveling with his lawyer, Sardar Latif Khosa, on their way to his home. They forcefully transferred him into an unmarked white car. This arrest was captured on camera and widely shared on social media, drawing condemnation from various quarters, including the Pakistan Bar Council.
