Pak court extends remand of PTI leader Azam Khan Swati till Dec 3 over tweets against senior army officials
Nov 30, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], December 1 : A court in Pakistan on Tuesday extended the remand of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Senator Azam Khan Swati till December 3 for his controversial tweets against senior army officials, The News International reported.
The court's ruling comes after Azam Khan Swati was arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency's (FIA) Cybercrime Wing on Sunday from his farmhouse in Chak Shahzad. Later, he was presented in court which ordered to keep him in physical remand for two days, as per The News International report.
During the hearing on Tuesday, Senior Civil Judge Muhammad Shabbir Bhatti ruled that Swati will be handed over to the FIA till December 3. The court also agreed to his lawyer Babar Awan's petition not to present Swati in court citing security concerns, as per the news report.
The court also approved his counsel Babar Awan's petition not to present Swati in court citing security concerns. The FIA had called for six-day physical remand of the senator for further probe into his Twitter account and mobile phone.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) directed the deputy attorney general to call for orders from the home secretary on the cases against the PTI leader. On Monday, Azam Khan Swati filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court and his lawyer Babar Awan appeared in the court. The lawyer in the court requested the judge that his client should not be kept in custody until all the cases against him are not received.
"Azam Swati is currently in physical remand, while 50 cases have been registered against him across the country," The International News quoted Babar Awan said.
"Until all details regarding the cases against my client are not received, he shouldn't be given into anyone's custody," Awan added.
According to Awan, majority of the cases against Azam Khan Swati have been registered in Sindh and Balochistan. The court asked as to how the home secretary had authority over the provincial inspector generals of police (IGP), as per The News International report.
Awan told the court that the home secretary had control over the provincial IGPs. The court ordered to check if the home secretary has the authority as being said in the court and share details regarding the matter.
