A district and sessions court in Islamabad on Wednesday granted police two-day physical remand of PTI leader Shahbaz Gill, a day after he was arrested by police on charges of sedition and inciting the public against the state institutions.
Police were also directed to produce Gill before the court on August 12 (Friday), while the investigating officer was told to get the PTI leader medically examined.
Gill, who is PTI chief Imran Khan’s chief of staff, was arrested from Banigala Chowk on Tuesday — an act that the PTI has termed as an “abduction”.
The arrest came in the wake of the Pakistan Electronic and Media Regulatory Authority issuing a show-cause notice to ARY News for airing controversial remarks by Gill, which the authority described as “highly hateful and seditious” and tantamount to inciting the “armed forces towards revolt”.
On Wednesday, Gill was presented before Duty Magistrate Umar Bashir by Kohsar police, which submitted an application to the court for his physical remand.
Before the hearing began, police barred journalists from entering the courtroom, saying that it was the judge’s instructions.
According to the court order, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, the investigating officer sought Gill’s physical remand for 14 days for further investigation “in respect of other persons allegedly involved in the commission of the offence”.
The order said Gill’s remand was also sought for the recovery of the “mobile phone allegedly used for the commission of the offence” for the purpose of voice matching through forensics, and to verify that “the interview given by the accused from the head office of the media house which is situated in Karachi”.
Moreover, the order stated that the remand was sought for the “verification of the video from the media house”.
Gill’s lawyer, Faisal Chaudhry, argued that there were no grounds for his client’s physical remand as he had been in police custody for approximately 24 hours. He also told the court that his client had been tortured and requested a medical examination for Gill.
The court initially reserved its judgement on the police’s application but later granted them two-day physical remand of the PTI leader.
Speaking to the media outside the courtroom, Gill said that there was nothing in his controversial remarks that caused embarrassment, adding that he was a patriot.
He also asserted that he did not try to instigate anyone. “Officers within the bureaucracy, who are saying the wrong thing, I talked about them,” he said.
Meanwhile, his lawyer said that Gill’s clothes were stained with blood and questioned where the PTI leader had been detained prior to being presented before the court
