LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday ordered the authorities to release Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Sen-ior Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Secretary General Asad Umar, and other leaders who were put behind bars during the party’s ‘Jail Bharo Tehreek’ (court arrest movement).
LHC’s Justice Tariq Saleem Shaikh issued the order while hearing a petition filed by PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry seeking the release of his party’s detained leaders.
The movement, according to the PTI rationale, aims to counter the “attack on constitutionally-guaranteed fundamen-tal rights” and the “economic meltdown” by the incumbent government”.
The court arrest movement was launched on February 22. The party’s senior leaders, including Qureshi, Umar, along with party workers voluntarily surrendered themselves to the Lahore police on the first day of the campaign — and later, some of the others followed suit.
The PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday, however, welcomed the Supreme Court (SC) verdict in the election suo motu notice and announced the suspension of the “Jail Bharo Tehreek”, saying the party will move forward with elec-tion campaigns in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab.
In a split verdict, the top court had asked the president to consult with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and fix a date for elections in Punjab while the governor KP was ordered to announce a date for the election in the prov-ince.
During the course of the proceedings, the LHC sought a reply from the Punjab government and other parties in this regard on March 7. Meanwhile, the court adjourned the hearing till Tuesday. –Agencies
