LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday issued notices to the Punjab government and the police on a petition of former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry against summons by a joint investigation team (JIT) in the May 9 cases.

A two-member bench headed by Justice Shehram Sarwar Chaudhry heard the petition.

The former minister appeared in court along with his counsel.

The bench asked the petitioner’s counsel about another petition pending before another bench of the high court.

The lawyer said the other petition was about hearing of the cases via video link, but it had been dismissed by the court. He further stated that the JIT was formed to investigate 36 cases against the petitioner.

The bench sought replies from the respondents for a date to be fixed after Eid holidays.

Talking to the media outside the court, Fawad Chaudhry said the country could not be run by excluding Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Imran Khan.

He said PTI’s Aliya Hamza and Sanam Javed get bail, but they were rearrested in new cases. He said Senator Ejaz Chaudhry had been in jail for 13 months, and his production orders had not been issued by the Senate.

“Why doesn’t Senate Chairman Yousaf Raza Gilani see this?” he questioned.

He said the PTI founder had been kept in jail, but his stature was rising.

He said, “We salute the judges of all provinces who have taken a ‘stand’.”

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2024