LAHORE: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf on Wed­nesday strongly reacted to highhandedness being committed against its candidates and lawyers.

A PTI spokesman reported that party’s Kasur district bar former president Advocate Muhammad Sal­eem Mehr’s coaster van was torched at his petrol pump and some unidentified persons also did aerial firing.

Mandi Usmanwala police have lodged a criminal case against three unidentified people who set fire to a school bus at village Pial Kalan.

Complainant Advocate Muhammad Saleem, PTI ticket aspirant for PP-176, claimed in the First Information Report (FIR) that three unidentified people set fire to the school bus belonging to him. The bus was parked at the petrol pump of the complainant. The complainant said that the accused resorted to firing in the air after setting the bus on fire.

LHC disposes of petitions filed by PTI ticket aspirants against harassment

The FIR lodged under section 435 of PPC is silent on the motive behind the crime. SHO Muhammad Qasim said a case had been lodged and police were investigating the matter.

In another case, the PTI spokesman said, police ‘abd­u­cted’ lawyer Naeem Shah, representing PTI PP-148 candidate Ghulam Moyiuddin, when he reached the returning officer’s office for scrutiny of his nomination papers.

The spokesman also claimed that police raided houses of the proposer and seconder of the PTI candidate from PP-176 (Kasur), Muzammil Masood Bhatti.

The party spokesman criticised the Election Commi­ssion of Pakistan for its failure to hold elections in a free and fair manner. He said the party candidates’ scrutiny processes were not being allowed to complete.

LHC disposes of PTI petitions

Meanwhile, the Lahore High Court on Wednesday disposed of petitions of two PTI ticket aspirants alleging harassment to their proposer and seconder in the nomination papers for Feb 8 elections.

Former MNA Karamat Khokhar’s son and daughter filed a petition pleading that their father was a candidate of PTI. They said the police had been harassing the proposer and the seconder of their father and hampering submission of his nomination papers.

The petitioners asked the court to restrain the police from harassing their father and ensure submission of his nomination papers.

A law officer appeared on behalf of the Punjab government and rejected allegations of harassment by the police. He informed the court that the nomination papers of the former MNA had also been submitted with the returning officer.

Justice Ali Baqar Najafi disposed of the petition in light of the law officer’s report. The judge also disposed of a petition by PTI leader Jahangir Bara and directed the government to ensure that no one is harassed by police in the process of submitting nomination papers.

A counsel for the petitioner stated that his client was a candidate for PTI in the general election.

He alleged that police were causing harassment to the petitioner’s proposer and seconder to obstruct the process of scrutiny of nomination papers. He asked the court to restrain police from harassing the petitioner and his proposer/seconder.

A law officer for the government denied the charges of harassment. He said no one had been harassed or illegally arrested by the police. He claimed that the proposer and seconder of the petitioner were at their home.

The judge disposed of the petition in light of the government’s report.

The proposer and seconder of PTI’s additional secretary general Hafiz Farhat Abbas also approached the LHC against the alleged harassment by the police.

Petitioners Shams Nawaz and Asad Ali filed a petition through Advocate Abuzar Salman Niazi.

Abbas is a PTI ticket aspirant from PP-157, Lahore.

Afzal Ansari in Kasur, Wajih Ahmad Sheikh and Mansoor Malik in Lahore contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2023