QUETTA: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Sena­tor Azam Khan Swati was handed over to the Sindh police on Friday soon after the Balochistan High Court ordered quashing of all five cases registered against him in the province.

The cases were registered for controversial tweets that Mr Swati had posted against army officials and he was brought to Quetta from Islamabad last week in one such case registered at the Kuchlak police station.

The judicial magistrate of Kuchlak had remanded Mr Swati in the police custody for five days.

A single bench of BHC comprising Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar, while hearing a petition of Usman Swati, the son of Azam Swati, on Friday reprimanded the police for registering multiple cases against the PTI leader.

In response to a query, the police officials informed the court that the inspector general of police was not aware of the registration of so many FIRs against the senator.

Justice Kakar, after hearing arguments of the senator’s lawyer, observed that there was no need to extend the remand. He ordered the police to quash all FIRs registered against Senator Swati in Balochistan and release him if he was not requited in any other case.

In a related development, the Sindh High Court issued notices to the police, FIA and other respondents in two petitions challenging registration of identical cases against Mr Swati in the province.

The two-judge bench, headed by Justice Moham­mad Karim Khan Agha, asked the police to submit details of the cases on Dec 22, the next date of hearing.

Ishaq Tanoli in Karachi also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2022