Staff Report
KARACHI: Azam Swati, a senator for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), will no longer be the target of any new cases in the province stemming from the case of the controversial tweet, the Sindh High Court (SHC) ruled on Thursday.
Ghulam Nabi Memon, the inspector general of the Sindh Police, apologized to the court at the beginning of the hearing for his remarks made during the prior appearance. Swati has been put in the custody of the Islamabad Police, the Sindh Prosecutor General Faiz Shah informed the SHC. Additionally, he stated that the cases registered against the senator have been labeled as ‘C-Class’. The government attorney stated that all applications were previously ineffective and added that private individuals filed the cases.
He continued, “Law required that the statement of these persons be recorded.” Justice Karim Khan Agha praised the IG Memon and the Sindh government for handling the “problem” at this point. The court subsequently ordered Azam Swati would not be the subject of any additional FIRs in the case. Additionally, it stated that Swati was the subject of multiple cases in various parts of the province stemming from a single charge. The court further ordered that the C-Class report be delivered to the relevant courts in three days.
Swati transferred to Islamabad
According to media reports, Swati has been moved to Islamabad and been placed in the custody of the police. They added that the senator was flown from Sukkur to the capital on a special aircraft.
34 cases registered against Azam Swati in Sindh
After the hearing, Anwar Mansoor Khan, Swati’s attorney, told the media that 34 cases had been filed against his client in Sindh, all of which had since been categorized as ‘C-Class’. According to Khan, the FIRs are no longer useful due to the ‘C-Class’ categorization. He continued by saying that he had argued in court to dismiss the charges brought against his client. The lawyer added that the police will present a new report to the concerned magistrate. Judicial procedure requires that the concerned judicial magistrate shall decide those cases.
SHC barred police from arresting Azam Swati in more cases
Earlier this week, the SHC combined two petitions submitted by Senator Swati’s son Usman, seeking the dismissal of all cases, and barred the provincial police from detaining Senator Swati in any additional case. An SHC panel led by Justice Karim Khan Agha instructed the Prosecutor General of Sindh (PGS) to provide the court with a response by December 15 during the petition’s hearing.
Controversial tweets cases
Swati was arrested in numerous national cases due to his divisive tweets about military officials. He was first detained in connection with a controversial tweet he posted on his official Twitter account in October, which allegedly contained threats against the army chief, the judiciary, and other state institutions. In that case, the senator obtained bail.
But on November 27, the Federal Investigation Agency detained him again for abusing senior military figures, including the army chief.
