LAHORE/KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court on Monday denied further physical remand of Advocate Hassaan Khan Niazi, nephew of PTI Chairman Imran Khan, to police in a Lahore case and granted his two-day transit remand to Sindh police in a case lodged in Karachi.

The police produced Niazi before the court to seek physical remand in a case registered with the Racecourse police regarding attacks on police teams and damage to public property outside the Zaman Park residence of Imran Khan.

The investigating officer told the court that custody of the suspect was required for the recovery of a laptop and a cellular phone from him.

Mr Niazi’s lawyers opposed the remand and asked the court to discharge him in the case.

ATC judge Abher Gul Khan rejected the request of the police and sent Hassaan Niazi to jail on judicial remand.

However, the judge allowed two-day transit remand of Mr Niazi to Sindh police for his shifting to Karachi as required in a case of hate speech.

Separately, Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh of the Lahore High Court directed the federal and Punjab governments to submit details of the cases registered against Advocate Niazi.

Noreen Niazi, mother of the lawyer, filed a petition asking the court to restrain the trial court from handing over custody of her son to Sindh police. She also asked the court to summon details of the cases registered against her son in the country.

A counsel for the petitioner argued before the court that the lawyer had been implicated in politically-motivated cases lodged against him in different cities of the country. He pointed out that a court of Islamabad had released the lawyer on bail but Quetta police took his custody in another case. Later, he said, the lawyer was brought to Lahore in another case.

The counsel said the trial court denied custody of the lawyer to the police but Sindh police secured his transit remand.

A law officer of the caretaker government opposed the petition.

Justice Sheikh turned down the request of issuing a restraining order against handing over of the lawyer to Sindh police. The judge sought details of the cases registered against Advocate Niazi by the next hearing.

Meanwhile, Karachi police have registered a case against Mr Niazi over charges of threatening heads of institutions.

A police officer who wished not to be named confirmed that the case has been registered on the complaint of a private citizen at the Jamshed Quarters police station.

According to contents of the FIR, complainant Mohammed Iqbal said he was using social media inside his home on March 26 when he saw a person giving interview to different Whatsapp groups and TikTok by warning that if “[Imran] Khan was arrested, then no regard/respect would be shown to any Haji or Hafiz, there would be Dama Dam Mast Qalander, leading to civil war in the country”.

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2023