ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry in contempt case. A five-member commission headed by the Chief Election Commissioner heard the case. During today’s proceedings, Fawad’s assistant counsel appeared before the ECP and requested the court to adjourn the case. To this, Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) inquired whether Fawad will appear today or not. Fawad’s lawyer requested ECP to adjourn the case stating that the High Court will decide on the case in a couple of days. Following this, ECP rejected the plea of Fawad’s counsel and issued a non-bailable arrest warrant in a contempt case. The hearing of the case was adjourned till July 28.
In August 2022, the ECP issued notices to Chaudhry, and others for allegedly using “intemperate” language against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja and the electoral watchdog. During the last hearing of the ECP contempt case, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja decided to issue an arrest warrant for Fawad Chaudhry over his continuous absence. Earlier, the arrest warrants issued for the former prime minister and Fawad were suspended by the Lahore High Court (LHC). –Agencies