The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Islamabad Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Akbar Nisar Khan over a contempt case linked to PTI President Parvez Elahi’s arrest.
On September 1, the Islamabad police had re-arrested Elahi under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) from near his residence soon after the LHC had set him free and issued a restraining order against his possible arrest by any agency or preventive detention.
After the re-arrest, the PTI president’s wife, Qaisara Elahi, filed two pleas in the LHC, seeking directions for relevant authorities to present him in court and contempt proceedings against Punjab police officials on the grounds of “willful disobedience”. On Sept 4, the LHC issued a show-cause notice for contempt of court to IG Khan while hearing the plea for Parvez’s production in court. A day later, the LHC further directed him to appear before the court in a personal capacity on Sept 6 along with Elahi. But during the Sept 6 hearing, the Islamabad advocate general informed the court that the Islamabad IG could not comply with its directive as he had to appear before the Supreme Court.
In the last hearing on Sep 11, the court had issued bailable arrest warrants for the Islamabad police chief for his no-show. The court had directed him to appear before it on Sep 18, only for him to skip the hearing again.
On Monday, LHC Justice Mirza Waqas Rauf again asked about the absence of the inspector general and questioned whether “the court orders are being taken for granted”.
The government’s counsel informed the court that the Islamabad police chief was “busy”. The court then sought confirmation from the government’s counsel regarding the IG’s whereabouts.
Following a short break, the court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for IG Khan, noting that he had failed to appear before the court even when bailable arrest warrants were issued during the last hearing of the case.
The court sought the government’s counsel’s reply on the matter, to which the counsel responded that he had been unable to establish contact with the IG.
Subsequently, the hearing was adjourned until October 2. In a separate development, Elahi was re-arrested yet again – this time by the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment in a case involving the appointment of Muhammad Khan Bhatti as his principal secretary during his tenure as the chief minister, his lawyer said. According to the first information report filed by the ACE, the ACE said the appointment of Bhatti was not in accordance with the law.
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