The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday disposed of a plea against the arrest of anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan with directions to approach the relevant forum for relief.
Chief Justice Athar Minallah, hearing the case, remarked that only the Lahore High Court (LHC) could hear the case as the petitioner was currently in the custody of Attock Police and it didn’t fall in his jurisdiction. The chief justice remarked that this court had given observations that the Punjab police have to take permission from the capital police before arresting the journalists from Islamabad. The court observed that the Islamabad police did not violate its orders, as the petitioner was in the custody of a province which didn’t fall in its jurisdiction.
Petitioner’s lawyer earlier adopted that his client had told him that he was arrested near the Islamabad toll plaza and four cases were registered against him during last four days on same charges. He said that a total of 18 cases were registered against TV anchor in Punjab but the report of only 17 FIRs was presented to LHC. The lawyer said that report regarding the 18th case was not produced. The lawyer said the cases were also registered in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but they didn’t arrest the anchor. The lawyer said a contempt of court plea had also been filed to LHC as an FIR was hid from it.
After this, the court disposed of the case and instructed the petitioner to approach the relevant forum for the relief.
