Swati’s further arrest barred

FROM ZEESHAN MIRZA

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court’s Hyderabad registry on Tuesday restrained the police from arresting PTI Senator Azam Swati in cases lodged against him within the jurisdiction — which includes Mithi, Nawabshah, and Hyderabad. The court’s directives were issued during a hearing on the plea filed by the senator’s son Usman Swati which sought to quash the charges registered against the PTI leader.

Swati was arrested over a “highly obnoxious campaign of intimidating tweets against state institutions” by the Federal Investigation Agency on November 27 and has been in detention since and continues to face legal action. He is currently in the custody of Qambar Shahdadkot police.

Earlier this week, the SHC’s Karachi registry had barred the police from arresting the senator in additional cases and had sought details of the cases already registered against him in the province.

During the hearing yesterday, Swati’s counsel Noorul Haq Qureshi contended that the registration of multiple cases against the PTI leader was a violation of the Supreme Court’s orders.

Subsequently, the court sought details of the cases registered against Swati from the Sindh inspector-general of police, the Hyderabad deputy inspector-general, and the director of the Federal Investigation Agency. It has further summoned responses from the respondents in the case by January 11.