Fawad Chaudhry sent to jail on 14-day judicial remand

A district and sessions court of Islamabad on Friday rejected a plea by the police seeking an extension in physical remand of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry and sent him to jail on two-week judicial remand.

Fawad Chaudhry was produced before the district and sessions court by the police after the completion of his two-day physical remand.

The prosecutor requested an extension in the remand, stating that more investigation was necessary.

The court rejected the police’s plea and granted Fawad 14-day judicial remand and sent him to Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail.

On Wednesday, the court approved a two-day physical remand of the PTI leader, rejecting the Islamabad police’s request for an eight-day remand.

Following the order, the former federal information minister was shifted to the Counter-Terrorism Department’s (CTD) complex in Sector H-11.

The police also took Fawad to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) for a medical checkup and declared him fit.

The PTI leader was arrested from his Lahore residence in the early hours of Wednesday after he publicly “threatened” the members of the ECP and their families in a media talk the day before.

Fawad denied all charges and demanded the dismissal of the case, calling it “fraud and the FIR is a shame.”

His lawyers argued that the charges were politically motivated and that since the PTI leader made the statements in Lahore, his case should have been registered there instead of in Islamabad.

Today’s hearing

The hearing took place in the court of Judicial Magistrate Waqas Ahmad Raja in which ECP’s lawyer Saad Hasan and PTI’s lawyers Babar Awan, Faisal Chaudhry and Ali Bukhari were also present.

The district and sessions court allowed the police to take off the handcuffs of Fawad Chaudhry during the court proceedings.

At the beginning of the hearing, police officials once again requested the court to extend the physical remand of the PTI leader to supplement the investigation which was rejected by the court.

During the hearing, the prosecutor argued that Fawad’s statement is a threat to the lives of ECP members and that extension in physical remand was required for further investigation.

The ECP’s lawyer, Saad Hasan, said that Fawad tried to spread hatred and leveled allegations against the chief election commissioner, calling him a clerk of the coalition government.

He also argued that a search of Fawad’s residence was required for the seizure of his mobile phone and laptop.

While Fawad’s counsel requested to quash the case against his client as this was a matter of enmity.