ISLAMABAD: A judicial magistrate on Thursday extended the judicial remand of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Azam Khan Swati for 14 days in a case pertaining to a controversial tweet against former army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa.
Swati’s counsel, Babar Awan, said: “For the last three days, the prosecution has been saying that they would present arguments, and then they got the judge transferred.”
He continued that Sindh and Balochistan high courts had quashed cases registered against Swati and “set a prime example of supremacy of law”.
“How a tweet could pose a threat to anyone,” he questioned.
When the judge asked whether Swati had been granted bail in the case, Awan denied, saying “they [the prosecution] kept playing games with the judge for two days.”
The court then summoned Swati and suspended the session for a while.
When the session resumed, Swati joined the hearing via a video link.
“How are you Swati sahib?” the judge asked.
“I’m fine, my lord” the senator replied, adding that he would continue his struggle for “supremacy of the law” and “judiciary’s independence”.
Subsequently, the IO informed the court that they were awaiting records from Twitter and a technical report to submit the challan.
The court, however, directed him to submit the challan.
“At least submit an interim challan,” the court said, adding that they were issuing a notice for it today.
The court of Judicial Magistrate Shabbir Bhatti also issued notice to the IO for his inability to present the case challan.
The court warned that it would order stopping the salary of the IO if he fails to submit the case challan by the next hearing.
The court also allowed Swati’s lawyers to meet him and asked when would they meet the senator. It adjourned the hearing after extending Swati’s judicial remand for 14 days. The court marked the attendance of Swati through video link.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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