ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Monday asked from the top court of the county about the applicability of Article 14 of the Constitution, saying whether it is “only applicable to the powerful of the state”.

In a tweet, he strongly condemned the re-arrest of party Senator Azam Khan Swati by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and asked the apex court that Article 14, which refers to the inviolability of dignity of man, etc., is constantly being defied by the mighty and powerful.

Swati, a 75-year-old PTI senator has once again been arrested by the FIA, which the party says is being done at the behest of ‘powers that be’, as he had once again shot some controversial tweets against the outgoing army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa besides asking him to give details about the wealth of his family, just days before his arrest at a rally in Rawalpindi.

Khan and other PTI leaders have been lamenting the alleged custodial torture of Swati along with the leak of an objectionable video, purportedly of the senator with his wife.

In his tweet on Monday, Khan asked the apex court whether Article 14 was only applicable to “the powerful of the state and for everyone else, there was no protection of their basic human dignity?”

“Swati was stripped naked, tortured, and humiliated through an illegal video sent to his wife. For weeks he has sought justice from the SC to no avail and upon expressing his anger and frustration he was put in jail,” Imran said, adding that at least 15 FIRs were registered against Swati across Pakistan.

Again drawing the attention of apex court judges, he reiterated his question: “Is the Article 14 constitutional provision only to be applied selectively for the high and mighty state functionaries”.

Article 14 of the constitution states that the “dignity of man and (…) the privacy of home shall be inviolable” and that “no person shall be subjected to torture for the purpose of extracting evidence”.

Separate FIRs were filed against the senator in Balochistan and Sindh, as well for using “derogatory language” and “provoking the people against the army”.

Following the arrest, the Pakistan Electronic Media and Regulatory Authority (Pemra) also banned media coverage of Swati on all satellite TV channels.

Meanwhile, the PTI chief said that twice the size of the Lahore hospital, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre Karachi would be opened in December 2023.

He said that the physical structure of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre Karachi has been completed.

“Twice the size of the Lahore hospital, this will be Pakistan’s largest tertiary-care cancer hospital. Finishing work has commenced and the hospital will open December 2023, InshaAllah,” he added.

“We need your continuing support in order to complete the project on time, so that we can provide high quality cancer care to the people of Karachi, interior Sindh and Balochistan,” he added.

“I know I can rely on the people of Pakistan as always to see this through to completion,” he maintained.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022