ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Wednesday approached Islamabad High Court (IHC), seeking a judicial probe into inhuman and de-grading treatment meted out to its party leaders held by police in different cases.
A single bench of Justice Aamer Farooq will hear the petition moved by the PTI leaders including Asad Qaiser former speaker National Assembly, Pervez Khattak, Ali Muhammad Khan and others.
They filed the petition through Sher Afzal Khan Advocate and cited federation through Secretary Ministry of Interior and Director General (DG) Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) as respondents.
They stated that with the change of federal government as a result of a ‘conspiracy hatched by PDM and its collaborators’, the members of the parliament, especially those belonging to PTI, came across a monster of terror, deception, torture, humiliation, inhuman and degrading treatment at the hands of the respondents who were ‘clandestinely aided by the intelligence agencies’.
The petitioners added that in pursuit of their political ends, the respondents have adopted such ignominious means for the achievement of their political aggrandizement and in the process committed such heinous crimes. “In a series of incidents, parliamentarians hailing from PTI were arrested in fake cases and even the PTI Chief Imran Khan alone has been implicated in 28 criminal cases registered by the respondents over a span of three and half months,” added the petitioner.
He continued that on a host of occasions, the PTI rallies were baton-charged, tear-gassed and even bullets were sprayed over the participants who included women and children. As if all this was not enough, Shahbaz Gill, a close aide of PTI chairman, was mercilessly beaten, stripped off his clothes, subjected to torture over sensitive private parts and all this ghastly drama was played by ‘the agencies’ who illegally took over the custody of Shehbaz Gill by the Islamabad police.
The counsel continued, “The stories of torture, inhumane and de-grading treatment inflicted over Shehbaz Gill were carried by the National Print and Electronic Media but the outlaw sleuths of the mighty agencies have continued perpetrating the acts of diabolical wantonness with impunity. Azam Swati, a 74 years old Senator from PTI was arrested by FIA in a fake case and again the old man was paraded naked in a big size hall by the cops of secret agencies who have again illegally taken over the custody of Swati from the FIA.”
He further said that this malicious, unethical and criminal pursuit against the PTI parliamentarians have continued unabatedly and next in line was Saleh Muhammad Khan PTI MNA from Manshehra who was arrested by respondents on the false charges of Terrorism.
He argued that the impugned acts committed by the respondents have seriously impaired the public faith in the notion of rule of law and in the majesty of justice. “It has caused worldwide disgrace and ignominy to the state of Pakistan. In fact the commission of these crimes in the heart of Pakistan, i.e., in the capital, has shaken and eroded the public faith in the justice system. These incidents have spread fear and terror through the width and length of Pakistan and beyond because if the public representatives of the largest party of the country are seen so helpless and unsafe, an ordinary citizen would hardly underestimate the illegal tentacles of the self-proclaimed czars,” maintained the counsel.
He said that PTI has announced agitation/ march which will be led by Imran Khan from Liberty Market Lahore to Islamabad on Friday next and unfortunately, no efforts were made at any level to prevent the recurrence of such illegal and void acts of degrading and inhumane treatment. “So far, such acts committed by the respondents have escaped the scale of Justice which would embolden the respondents and their accomplices to commit more such acts brazenly and shamelessly. It is thus a high time to put a full stop to the illegal and diabolical acts of the respondents and their collaborators, added Sher Afzal.
Therefore, he prayed to the court to direct for judicial probe into the acts of inhuman and de-grading treatment meted out to Shehbaz Gil, Senator Swati and MNA Saleh Muhammad Khan by a judicial officer not below the rank of District and Sessions Judge.
He also requested the court to restrain the respondents from illegally giving the physical custody of any accused charged for any offence to the intelligence agencies, and to direct the respondents to desist from committing the acts of torture, illegal detention, illegal harassment, degrading and inhumane treatment to the workers and Parliamentarians affiliated with the PTI.
The petitioner further prayed to the court restrain the respondents from acting in an unlawful and illegal manner during the PTI scheduled political agitation in Islamabad.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022