Karachi (Web Desk): The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday restrained the provincial police from arresting Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Azam Swati in more cases.
A two-judge bench of the SHC headed by Justice Karim Khan Agha heard the case related.
The court also directed the inspector general (IG) to review all first information reports (FIR) filed against the PTI leader.
During the hearing, Justice Agha asked the IG how can an FIR be registered in each province regarding the same incident.
Justice Agha also instructed IG Sindh and prosecutor general Sindh to review the said FIRs and submit a report.
The court then adjourned the hearing related to Azam Swati's cases till December 15.
It is pertinent to mention that the PTI senior leader is facing a flurry of cases and is currently held by Sindh police, weeks after hurling threats at senior officers of state institutions.
Swati was first arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on charges of posting controversial tweets about the armed forces in October and was later released on bail.
On November 27, the FIA arrested the PTI Senator for the second time over a “highly obnoxious campaign of intimidating tweets against state institutions”.
The arrest came after an FIR was registered by the FIA on the complaint of the state through Islamabad Cyber Crime Reporting Centre Technical Assistant Aneesur Rehman.
The complaint was registered under Section 20 of Peca as well as Sections 131 (abetting mutiny or attempting to seduce a soldier from his duty),500 (punishment for defamation), 501 (defamation and printing of content deemed defamatory), Section 505 (statement conducing to public mischief) and 109 (abetment) of the PPC.
Following his arrest in November, the Pakistan Electronic Media and Regulatory Authority prohibited Azam’s media coverage on all satellite TV channels.
Separate FIRs were also registered against the PTI leader in Balochistan and Sindh as well.
On December 2, Swati was brought to Quetta from Islamabad in one such case registered at the Kuchlak police station, after the end of his initial 14-day remand.
Subsequently, the judicial magistrate of Kuchlak remanded Swati in police custody for five days.
On December 9, the Sindh police took Azam Swati into custody from Quetta as two cases were registered against him in Sindh.
Earlier in the day, the Balochistan High Court (BHC) ordered to quash all cases registered against Azam Swati across the province and also ordered his release.