LAHORE: An Additional District and Sessions court in the provincial metropolis on Tuesday discharged an elderly man named Muhammad Sajid, involved in recently using inappropriate language against the Punjab chief minister in a viral video.
Recently a video of Sajid riding a motorcycle in the rainwater went viral on social media, in which he could be heard using abusive language against the chief minister.
On Monday, Additional District and Sessions Judge Ghulam Farid had sought a reply from Johar Town police on a habeas corpus petition filed by Muhammad Umar, son of Muhammad Sajid for the recovery of his father.
The police had arrested the citizen on July 14 and accordingly produced him in the Model Town court with a request for his judicial remand.
The court, however, decided against the police request, discharging Sajid from the case filed in June 2024 by the Green Town police station. Police subsequently released the senior citizen from handcuffs.
According to the court order, “No incriminating evidence is present against the accused person to be sent to judicial remand.
“Hence, the request of the investigating officer (IO) has been turned down, the accused person is discharged from the instant case … first information report, and the IO is ordered to release the person forthwith”.
In its orders, the court observed that all the facts and circumstances of the case create doubt in the police’s version of events.
Advocate Noman Sarwar Dogar, the counsel for the accused, argued in the court that his client had been wrongfully nominated in the 2024 FIR by the police.
In the habeas corpus case, the petitioner, Advocate Sameer Khan Khattak, alleged that Johar Town police had illegally detained his client’s father for the past two days.
He had claimed that Sajid had been arrested without any registered case and had not been produced before any court.
The counsel also stated that the police had forced the petitioner’s father to record apology videos, which were later circulated on social media.
He asked the court to order the recovery and release of the petitioner’s father.
