Following a high-stakes emergency meeting, it has been decided to convert Parliament Lodges into a sub-jail for the arrested National Assembly members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
The decision was announced after a series of emergency meetings held in the chamber of Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, which included key figures such as Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, and PPP leader Syed Naveed Qamar.
The meeting, which aimed to address the situation of PTI members currently in custody, concluded with the agreement to use Parliament Lodges for the detention of these members.
Interior Minister Naqvi subsequently visited the speaker’s chamber to inform Speaker Ayaz Sadiq about the decision. All arrested PTI members were also present in the speaker’s chamber at that time. The production orders for the detained PTI members will remain valid for the upcoming 16th session of the National Assembly.
Speaker Ayaz Sadiq approved the decision to use the Parliament Lodges as sub-jail for the PTI MNAs, after which all the arrested PTI members were made to sign relevant forms. The PTI members are likely to be transferred to Parliament Lodges today.
Earlier, an in-camera meeting of a special committee, chaired by Syed Khurshid Shah, also took place to discuss and streamline the proceedings of parliament. Key participants included Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, federal officials, and members of various political parties. However, Dar and Naveed Qamar left to attend another important meeting where they were joined by Mohsin Naqvi also.
In the meeting, the issue of the production orders of the PTI members of the National Assembly was considered. The meeting also discussed possibilities of granting facilities to the PTI members in case their bail was not approved by the court.
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The meeting also discussed the possibility of placing the draft constitutional amendment before the special committee of parliament. PTI lawmaker Aamir Dogar commented that they can only comment on the draft once it is presented to them. "The PTI will take its decision after going through the draft," the party chief whip declared.
The government sources said that the entire parliamentary committees would be taken into confidence on the constitutional amendment.
On being asked by a journalist if important legislation or constitutional amendment was on the cards tomorrow as both Senate and National Assembly sessions had been called, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said for now, the problem of the opposition MNAs is being discussed.
He further said that Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has also been called for the same purpose. "The production orders will remain intact if the National Assembly is in session," Tarar remarked.
Also on Friday, the Islamabad High Court invalidated the eight-day physical remand of several PTI MNAs arrested after a recent rally in Islamabad, sending them all to jail on judicial remand.
Also Read: IHC invalidates physical remand of PTI MNAs, sends them to jail
A two-member special bench, comprising Chief Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Saman Rifat Imtiaz, delivered the decision, which had been reserved following petitions filed to annul the physical remand of the detained PTI MNAs.
During the hearing, Chief Justice Aamir Farooq made strong remarks about the arrest of lawmakers from the Parliament House, expressing concern over the arrest of MNAs without proper procedure.
"The National Assembly speaker may be doing his job, but the court can also look into the matter. They will not let the dignity of any institution remain intact, what are you doing? Parliament is the mother of all institutions," the CJ remarked.
He questioned why parliamentarians were apprehended from within parliament, stating, "Look at the situation in the country, and you entered parliament and arrested the members."
The prosecutor general argued that "terrible anti-state speeches" were made in the Islamabad rally of the PTI, to which the chief justice responded, saying: "Even if the allegation is accepted as true, what about the right to a fair trial, which is a right for everyone regardless of the severity of the crime?"
