Qureshi manhandled, bundled into police van after release

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi was re-arrested on Wednesday from the Adiala Jail on charges of attack on the GHQ on May 9 under two cases lodged in Sadar Bairuni and R A Bazaar police stations.

Earlier, Deputy Commissioner, Rawalpindi, Hassan Waqar Cheema, withdrew the 15-day detention order for Shah Mehmood Qureshi at the request of City Police Officer Rawalpindi before his arrest. Large contingents of law enforcement agencies took positions outside the Adiala Jail to arrest Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the police sources said.

Minutes before being shoved into a police vehicle by an official wearing the Punjab Police uniform, Qureshi warned the police officers of being taken to the court. He said “The rulers violated the order of the apex court and are arresting me again in a false case. I represent the nation. I am innocent and I am being targeted for vendetta without any reason.”

During the episode, the PTI leader kept protesting that he was being arrested illegally and accused the police of making a mockery of the Supreme Court’s orders. Qureshi was later handed over to the police to obtain his physical remand. He would be produced before the Anti-Terrorist Court on Thursday (today).

Qureshi’s daughter Mehr Bano Qureshi has filed a petition with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in connection with the alleged confinement of her father. She contended that her father had been illegally confined without informing the family about his whereabouts. She said Qureshi had been kidnapped. She wanted the chief election commissioner to take notice of the case because such steps were affecting electoral transparency.

Earlier on Tuesday, Qureshi was at last granted bail with PTI founder Chairman Imran Khan in the cipher case by the Supreme Court. When his family arrived at the Adiala Jail to pay his surety bonds to obtain the Robkar (release order), Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner (DC) Hassan Waqar Cheema issued an order for his 15-day detention under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) and he was detained.

Meanwhile, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar met founder Chairmen Imran Khan in Adiala Jail with PTI leader Ali Zafar and discussed the court cases regarding general elections and political prospects. While talking to the media outside the jail, Barrister Gohar said Imran was satisfied with the role of PTI leadership and its legal team. He said they would approach the courts to get relief for Shah Mehmood Qureshi who has been unlawfully arrested.

Strongly reacting to the manhandling of PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, President Dr Arif Alvi said, “Let us not become a state where human rights and dignity are trampled upon with impunity.” Dr Arif Alvi took a social media handle X (previously known as Twitter) and posted that incidents of paper snatching, brutal action on protesters, and now treating an ex-foreign minister from two regimes in an undignified manner must draw the attention of the authorities concerned. “Detracting arguments that similar incidents have happened before do not cut ice because Pakistan must change, and if we as a nation agree, there is no better time than starting now.”

Also, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf spokesperson vehemently condemned what he alleged as the draconian manner of re-arresting PTI’s senior leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi by tossing the Supreme Court’s order in the trash. He demanded the apex court to take notice of such “blatant transgressions” and ensure his immediate release from unlawful detention.

The spokesperson said that the mistreatment of Qureshi by Punjab Police officers was a clear indication that there was a complete breakdown of the rule of law. He pointed out that the imminent PTI landslide victory in forthcoming general elections and the failure to smash the bond between Imran Khan and the nation had sent the state into a frenzy, which was crossing all limits of brutality against PTI and its leaders and workers. He was of the view that the ECP was directly responsible for the unleashing of atrocities against PTI by the unconstitutional and unrepresentative caretaker governments.

He made it clear that people were united and ready for the accountability of those who plunged the country into a quagmire of problems and would inflict a crushing defeat on their candidates in the general elections.

In a related development, the Supreme Court refused to conduct an immediate hearing of Imran Khan’s plea seeking to suspend his conviction in the Toshakhana case to ensure he partakes in the general polls. The apex court’s refusal came as only two judges of the SC were available due to the winter vacation.

During the preliminary hearing, Justice Athar Minallah observed that Imran’s appeal sought not only the suspension of the sentence but also the conviction itself, observing that there was no precedent in judicial history where both were suspended simultaneously. Addressing Khan’s lawyer Shahbaz Khosa, Justice Minallah remarked, “There is no judicial precedent in the country’s history that suspension of sentence led to the annulment of conviction.”

Khosa responded by referring to the judicial precedent when senior politician Javed Hashmi’s sentence was abolished along with the verdict. “The court should see how Judge Humayun Dilawar issued five sentences in a single day,” the lawyer argued.

Acting Chief Justice Sardar Tariq Masood told Khosa that this petition could be dismissed by a two-member bench, asking him if they should do so. “A two-member bench cannot even give you interim relief because there is a division bench decision in the high court,” he remarked.

Justice Masood said the disqualification petition in the Toshakhana case should be fixed before a three-member bench. “Only two judges are available in Islamabad. Toshakhana case should be heard by at least a three-member bench,” he remarked.

The acting chief justice said hearing of the disqualification case is not possible this week. “What if the case is on important points and should be heard by a five-member bench,” the acting CJP added. “Next week, Qazi sahib will also come,” said Justice Masood referring to Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, who is on winter vacation.

Khosa said the court can still form a bench by summoning judges. “The judges are not available here, you tell me who should sit and hear?” the acting chief justice asked the lawyer, after which the judges left the courtroom.

In August, Khan was sentenced to three years in prison and a fine of Rs100,000 by Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Humayun Dilawar on August 5, 2023, after the judge found Khan guilty of graft in the Toshakhana case. Subsequently, the ECP disqualified the former PM for five years. On December 21, IHC’s two-member bench also rejected Khan’s request seeking suspension of the trial court’s verdict in the case. Earlier, the SC indicated fixing another PTI’s petition seeking contempt of court proceedings against the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) as the acting chief justice said he would decide about the matter in his chamber.

Separately, PTI senior leader Senator Azam Khan Swati challenged PMLN supremo Nawaz Sharif’s nomination papers in Mansehra’s NA-15 constituency, hoping that he would be disqualified because of his massive loot and plunder of the national wealth, according to the party’s Central Media Department here.

The senator said that if there was anything called law and Constitution in the country, the world would see Nawaz Sharif being disqualified today (Thursday).