ISLAMABAD: The 12 PML-N leaders whose arrest warrants were issued by a local court in Lahore yesterday submitted a petition seeking protective bails to the Islamabad High Court on Saturday.
The petition made the state and in-charge of Qila Gujjar Singh respondents in the case. The petitioners requested the court to stop the Punjab police from arresting them after accepting their protective bail plea. They stated that false and flimsy cases were registered against them.
Earlier, the PML-N leaders including Ataullah Tarar, Awais Leghari, Raja Saghir Ahmad and others reached the high court and got their bio metrics completed in the court, a prerequisite for the filing of their protective bail application in the court. After the confirmation of their bio metrics, they were able to submit their bail application.
A court in Lahore Cantonment on Friday issued non-bailable arrest warrants for 12 Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders in the case of hooliganism in the Punjab Assembly (PA) during the election for Punjab chief minister on April 16.
The Pervaiz Elahi-led government in Punjab after coming into power with the ruling of the court, registered cases against the PML-N leaders including Ataullah Tarar, Sardar Ahmad Owais Laghari, Mirza Javed, Saiful Mulook Khokhar, Pir Khizar Hayat, Raja Sagheer Ahmad, Abdur Rauf, Pir Ashraf Rasool, Bilal Farooq, Rana Manan, Malik Ghulam Habib Awan and Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan at Lahore’s Qila Gujjar Singh police station.
The Qila Gijjar Singh police yesterday approached a local court in Lahore seeking the arrest of the lawmakers for their failure to join the investigation, despite the issuance of several summons. However, the PML-N leaders apprehending their arrest fled to Islamabad where their party rules.
Police teams were dispatched to the homes of PML-N lawmakers in Lahore, Gujranwala, Narowal, Rawalpindi, Sheikhupura, and Sahiwal. Hamza Shehbaz, PML-N leader and son of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, condemned the issuance of arrest warrants for the party leaders as well as raids on their homes.