The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday reserved judgment on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Azam Swati’s post-arrest bail plea in the controversial tweets case.
Swati has been behind bars since November 27, when he was arrested for the second time for using abusive language against senior army officers, including former Army Chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa. Sepchoir hurled swear words at Bajwa.
Swati had on November 26 filed a bail plea in the IHC in connection with the case filed against her. His earlier plea, filed on December 21, was dismissed by trial court judge Azam Khan, who said the senator had done the same. Twice the offense.
The senator said in his application that he did not post derogatory remarks against any institution. He added that despite the investigation, the prosecution has no evidence against him.
The petition said that Azam Swati is 75 years old and a heart patient and to send her to jail without any crime is a punishment as all the evidence against her is documented.
Today’s hearing
Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Amir Farooq heard the case without the presence of the special prosecutor. Swati’s lawyer Babar Awan appeared in the court on behalf of his client.
Awan said that Azam Swati’s son wants to put his point of view before the court.
Swati’s son said that my father had written a letter, I want to read it with the permission of the court.
On this, Justice Farooq said that the letter is in the court.
The court said that a larger bench would be constituted to resolve the matter once and for all.
Azam Swati’s lawyer said that the court should hear the matter today, on which the court said that a larger bench cannot be formed today.
Meanwhile, Swati’s son withdrew his no-confidence motion against the IHC chief justice.
On the other hand, when the Deputy Attorney General appeared in the court, he requested more time for arguments.
The court inquired about the position of the challan to which the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) replied that the challan was submitted on December 24, 2022, the hearing will be held on January 3.
The Deputy Attorney General said that the PTI senator has committed the crime again and the case is already pending.
FIA said that Azam Swati did not surrender his Twitter account. On this, the court said that the investigating agency itself ended the physical remand.
“Is there any possibility of tampering?” The court questioned the FIA officials.
On this, FIA said that Azam Swati did not deny the tweet.
Cases
Several cases have been registered against Swati across the country for posting controversial tweets against senior army officers.
Initially, the senator was arrested by the FIA on October 13 after he posted hateful and threatening messages against the then army chief, judiciary and other state institutions on his official Twitter account.
He was granted bail in the case, but on November 27, the FIA arrested him again for using abusive language against senior army officers, including General (retd) Bajwa.
On December 2, Balochistan Police arrested Swati in a similar case in Quetta. At the time of his arrest, he was already on judicial remand in Adiala Jail and was transferred to Quetta under transit remand obtained by Balochistan Police.
Later, the Balochistan High Court (BHC) ordered to drop all the cases against the senator in the province. Once the BHC issued the order, the Sindh Police took the senator into custody over the controversial tweets.
The senator then approached the Sindh High Court for bail. The court also directed to drop all the cases filed against the senator in the province.
Following the orders, the Islamabad police took the senator into custody and brought him to the federal capital. He is still in custody.
