A new case was filed against Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Saturday, this time for using obscene language in reference to Foreign Minister Bilawal-Bhutto Zardari.
Three separate cases have been registered against the ex-interior minister, who is also a close ally of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, in the cities of Muree, Islamabad, and Karachi, for making “offensive” and “filthy” comments about Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and threatening police personnel.
Since his initial arrest on February 2 from the Murree Motorway, Rashid has been detained by the police.
It’s worth noting that earlier in the day, Rashid had filed a motion to enjoin the registration of any further cases against him “on the basis of his political statements.”
Rashid’s attorney, Sardar Abdul Razzaq Khan, filed a petition with the Islamabad High Court (IHC) requesting temporary restraining orders preventing his removal from the nation’s capital and relocation to the city of Karachi.
The petition asked that “the respondents be restrained from shifting the petitioner from Islamabad to Karachi until the final disposal of the instant constitutional petition.”
The petitioner also asked the court to prevent the respondents from filing any further cases against him and to declare the case registered at the Aabpara Police Station in Islamabad to be “illegal, unlawful, and without lawful authority.”
Additionally, the FIRs filed in Murree and Karachi should “be declared as illegal, unlawful, result of abuse of powers and misuse of authority or in the alternate.”
The petition also asked the court to “order the shifting of the case registered in Karachi to Islamabad in accordance with sections 234, 235, and 239 of the Criminal Procedure Code,” which is the code that governs criminal proceedings in Pakistan.
It has been decided that Rashid should be sent to Muree by the police.
The police from Murree have arrived at an Islamabad court in order to request temporary remand for Rashid in the second case involving interference in official affairs.
An FIR was filed with the Aabpara Police Station in Islamabad under Section 154 of the Pakistani Criminal Procedure Code after an investigation officer named Ashiq Ali received a complaint alleging that Rashid had threatened police officers and said he would not spare them.
It has been decided to present Rashid in court today. As his two-day physical remand in the case registered against him for making allegations against the former president expires today, the former minister will be presented in the court of a judicial magistrate in Islamabad.
The prosecution will present the results of the photogrammetry and voice-matching tests conducted on Rashid at today’s hearing before Judicial Magistrate Umar Shabbir.
Prosecution of PTI will have no positive effect on the economy.
In a press conference in Islamabad, PTI leader Faisal Javed Khan claimed that Sheikh Rashid is a target because he speaks the truth.
They are prepared to show their support for Rashid despite the fact that “filing cases on us will not improve the economy.”
Javed continued, saying that the government is willing to talk but is simultaneously filing cases against PTI leaders and its allies.
He claimed that the problem could be solved by “announcing the date for elections,” an idea proposed by his party.
“Both the unemployment rate and the cost of living have reached all-time highs recently. Voting is the only way out of this “The head of the PTI said.
In addition, Javed claimed that journalists’ rights are routinely being trampled upon and that press freedom is being eroded on a daily basis.
He added that those who speak up about government incompetence face danger.
The detention
According to the police, Rashid was taken into custody from Murree Road on the early morning of February 2. Sheikh Rashid Shafiq, the former minister of the interior, and his nephew have refuted the police account, saying that he was arrested at his home in Rawalpindi rather than on the highway.
Raja Inayat Ur Rehman, president of the Rawalpindi division of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), had filed a case against Rashid at the Aabpara Police Station in Islamabad, accusing him of conspiring with former president Asif Ali Zardari to kill the PTI leader.
AML chief allegedly tried to defame a former president and put the PPP co-chairman and his family in “permanent danger,” according to the FIR filed by the PPP division president.
As for the FIR
According to the FIR, Rashid intends to disrupt national peace by sowing discord between the PTI and the PPP with his allegations.
The AML chief, according to the PPP leader, has crucial information about a “conspiracy” to kill the PTI leader.
Another case has been filed against Sheikh Rashid in Karachi, increasing the pressure on him legally. “If that’s the case, then the police should take both the leaders into custody under Section 150 and 151 and foil the conspiracy,” he said, urging authorities to prevent further unrest across the country.
Statements that promote enmity between groups (Section 153A), statements that are likely to cause public confusion (Section 505), and criminal conspiracy (Section 120B) have all been added to the FIR.
The police also disclosed to the press that they had recovered a bottle of alcohol and a weapon from Rashid. The former minister of the interior was “intoxicated,” according to the arresting officers.
The Murree Police Department initially arrested him and turned him over to the Islamabad Police Department, who transferred him to the Aabpara Police Station to file the official report.
A second “illegal occupation” case has Rashid in legal hot water; on January 30, the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) sealed Lal Haveli, his home, along with five adjacent units. The Lahore High Court issued its order to unseal the property on the same day.
After getting checked out at the Polyclinic, the former minister was transferred to the Secretariat police station.
