IHC stops police from arresting Fawad Chaudhry in any ‘undisclosed’ case

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry, who avoided arrest by running inside the Islamabad High Court (IHC) building, finally got relief after the high court barred the police from arresting him in any “undisclosed” case for two days.

The order was issued by Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb.

During the hearing, the judge said that the advocate general had only informed the court about two cases registered against Fawad because of which the IHC had only granted the PTI leader bail in two cases.

Fawad, on the other hand, told the court that over 300 policemen were waiting to arrest him outside the high court, after which Justice Aurangzeb barred the police from arresting the former minister in any undisclosed case registered against him in Islamabad.

Earlier, the police tried to re-arrest Fawad, who had received a bail from the IHC, as he was leaving the court premises. Video footage showed the PTI leader, clad in a shalwar kameez, getting into a white SUV.

However, the PTI ran back inside the courtroom and was seen visibly out of breath after evading the arrest attempt.

Fawad was arrested outside the Supreme Court (SC) on May 11, two days after PTI Chairman Imran Khan was also detained.

The party’s statement said the arrest was carried out despite Fawad having been granted protective bail by the Islamabad High Court till May 12.

Meanwhile, the IHC on Tuesday also granted bail to PTI leader Shireen Mazari who was arrested last week under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order.

Pakistan saw a fresh wave of violence last week in the aftermath of Khan’s arrest with protesters ransacking state and private property, prompting the government to deploy army troops in two provinces as well as the federal capital.

At least nine people died in the unrest, police and hospitals said earlier, while hundreds of police officers were injured.

The government made several arrests, which targeted top leadership of Khan’s party – the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) – as well as his supporters with reports suggesting more than 4,000 people have been detained.

Khan, freed on bail, condemned the violence that ensued, but called for protests as he pushed ahead on his call for elections. Talks on holding polls failed earlier.