Islamabad: In light of former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shireen Mazari’s rearrest, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday admonished the additional attorney general, saying “it was all politics”.
“You should have told the court that it was all politics and it had no links with the cases,” the IHC said while hearing contempt pleas for the former federal minister’s repeated arrests despite release orders.
The complainant, Mazari’s daughter Iman Mazari, and her lawyer Zainab Janjua appeared before IHC Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb.
The court first asked if the Islamabad IGP had arrived. “This is a contempt of court case, he should be present here,” it said.
The extra attorney general informed the court that the IGP was appearing before another bench and would be here soon.
“[You] should have informed the court on day one that why is the entire state machinery active,” Justice Hassan said.
The court ruled that the state should have told the court earlier that Mazari’s arrest was political and unrelated to Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO).
“If [you] had informed [the court], we would have heard other cases,” the court said. The IG first favoured Rawalpindi deputy commissioner’s directives on this court’s ruling, it stated.
The court called the Islamabad IG personally on May 31 and requested a written response.
Following May 9 protests sparked by Imran Khan’s detention, the former ruling party’s senior vice president, detained many times.
Mazari and other PTI leaders also rearrested after the IHC ordered authorities not to arrest them again. After their May 17 release, the Punjab Police arrested them again.
