WEBDESK
The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday approved for a preliminary hearing a PTI petition against the second physical remand of Shahbaz Gill and the interrogation that was conducted after the PTI leader was handed over to the police for a second time.
The apex court issued notices to the government and the Investigation Officer (IO) of the case against Gill. The IO has been told to appear before the court with all the records.
During the hearing, Justice Mazahar Naqvi came down hard on the government counsel.
Shahbaz Gill was arrested on August 9 under sedition charges but a lower court sent him to jail on judicial remand only two days later, rejecting the plea of investigators who had sought more time to question the PTI leader.
After the Islamabad High Court ordered the lower judiciary to hear the investigator’s pleas again, Additional Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry sent Gill to police custody for two days. The PTI protested the decision and Imran Khan went on to issue threats to the judge, warranting a terror case against him as well as contempt of court charges.
After Gill landed in police custody for the second time, he was interrogated and led a police team to his residence in the Parliament Lodges, where a satellite phone and pistol were recovered.
Following the discovery, the PTI filed a petition before the Supreme Court of Pakistan against the second remand and requested the court to declare interrogation conduct so far as null and void and against the law.
On Thursday, the apex court constituted a three-member bench, under Justice Ijazul Ahsan, and set the petition for a hearing on Friday. Other members of the bench include Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail.
