President-elect Dr Arif Alvi on Thursday said that he has no intention to seek immunity in a criminal case pertaining to attack on state-run Pakistan Television (PTV) and Parliament House, registered against him and other PTI leaders under Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) during the 2014 sit-in of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
The response came from the President-elect who is set to take oath as the 13th President of Pakistan on September 09, after his lawyer during hearing of the case said that his client has been elected as president, adding he enjoys constitutional immunity and cannot be tried in criminal cases.
Alvi took to Twitter and said: "Aw come on. I don't intend to. The accused in this case are also my Prime Minister [Imran Khan], the ministers - Shafqat Mahmood, Asad Umar and Shah Mehmood Qureshi...how can I seek immunity? (I) will consult my lawyers."
The Article 248 (2) of the Constitution states that 'no criminal proceeding whatsoever shall be instituted or continued against the president or a governor in any court during term of office.'
After PTV and Parliament House came under attack during a sit-in by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) back in 2014, the police registered case under anti-terrorism act against PTI Chairman Imran Khan and party leaders Dr Alvi, Asad Umar, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Shafqat Mehmood and Raja Khurram Nawaz for inciting violence.
The case is still pending before anti-terrorism courts in Islamabad. As per the prosecution, three people were killed and 26 got injured, while 60 were arrested. The prosecution had submitted 65 photos, sticks, cutters, etc, to the court to establish its case.
On August 31, 2014, PTI and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) workers marched towards the Parliament House and Prime Minister House and clashed with police deployed on the Constitution Avenue.
Around 50 protesters, allegedly from the PTI and PAT, attacked and injured SSP Asmatullah Junejo the next day. Initially, police arrested six people who were allegedly involved in the attack.
In addition to the unidentified attackers, police had also nominated Imran Khan and PAT chief Dr Tahirul Qadri as accused in the case. The ATC declared them proclaimed offenders in November 2014 as they did not appear before the court despite issuance of summonses and arrest warrants.
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