Islamabad court sends PTI’s Asad Qaiser on judicial remand in graft case
A sessions court in Islamabad sent PTI leader Asad Qaiser on judicial remand on Saturday, a day after he was taken into custody in an alleged corruption case.
The court directed investigators to complete legal proceedings against the former National Assembly speaker in a week.
The PTI leader was arrested on Friday from the capital during a raid on his residence jointly carried out by the Anti Corruption Establishment (ACE) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad police.
Police sources had told Dawn that the ACE sought assistance from the capital police to arrest Qaiser over alleged corruption committed during the purchase of medical equipment for an educational institution in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Qaiser was an MNA elected from Swabi.
After his arrest, he was shifted to an undisclosed location.
Today, the Islamabad police brought him before Judicial Magistrate Qudratullah, seeking judicial remand for the PTI leader.
Station House Officer of the Bani Gala Police Station, Ashfaq Warraich, requested the court to grant judicial remand to allow ACE officials to take Qaiser into custody for further inquiry.
Qaiser’s lawyer, Shoaib Shaheen, questioned the “haste” of the capital police to make an arrest in a case that, according to him, fell outside their jurisdiction.
The lawyer pointed out that the arrest of the PTI leader occurred immediately after the announcement of an election date and claimed that it was motivated by political vendetta.
He further informed the court that his client frequently travelled to KP, where the ACE team had never detained him. The lawyer expressed his intention to file a protective bail plea on behalf of his client.
In response, the court clarified that protective bail could not be granted at this stage. After hearing the arguments, the court placed the PTI leader under judicial remand and instructed the ACE KP to conclude the legal proceedings against Qaiser within a week.