ISLAMABAD: A local court, Saturday, extended the physical remand of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senator Azam Khan Swati in a case registered against him over his alleged controversial tweet.

Swati was produced by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) before the sessions’ court of senior Civil Judge Muhammad Shabbir, after expiry of his two days physical remand.

The FIA prosecutor, Raja Rizwan Abbasi, and Swati’s counsel Babar Awan appeared before the court.

At the start of the hearing, the judge inquired about the case file. The FIA prosecutor submitted the case before the court and requested the court to grant an eight-day extension in Swati’s physical remand. Judge Shabbir asked: “I have read the file. What did the FIA do in the two-day remand?”

The prosecutor argued before the court that the phone through the accused posted the tweet and other devices were yet to be recovered. “We have to trace the person who is behind the suspect and tweets against the army,” the prosecutor further told the court.

He said that the accused tweeted from his verified account and the case was registered against him under sections of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 (Peca). The “choice of words” in Swati’s tweet was wrong, he said. “You can see the wounds on Swati’s body. The doctors at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital are not being allowed to write anything,” he added.

The court, after hearing arguments from both the parties, reserved its verdict on the FIA’s plea for some time.

Later, while announcing its verdict, the court extended Swati’s physical remand for one day.