ISLAMABAD, August 17(ABC): An Islamabad district and sessions court remanded senior PTI leader in police custody for another 48 hours in its verdict on a review plea seeking Gill’s physical remand in a sedition case. The court had reserved its verdict earlier in the day after the completion of arguments by all parties.
The sessions judge Zeba Chaudhry had taken up the case for rehearing this morning following the orders of the Islamabad High Court over the government’s plea challenging the dismissal of Gill’s physical remand by the duty magistrate.
Lawyers Salman Safdar and Faisal Chaudhry representing Gill — who has been behind the bars since last Tuesday (August 9) — appeared in court.
At the outset of the hearing, Special Prosecutor Rizwan Abbasi informed the court that the judicial magistrate remanded Gill into police custody for two days but the investigation officer requested for an extension in the remand.
He said that the duty magistrate should have considered all aspects of the matter but he rejected the request.
“How did he [magistrate] take Gill’s statement for the final statement?” he asked.
Abbasi maintained that a remand of at least 10 days is granted in ordinary cases while this is a case of criminal conspiracy.
He contended that the accused PTI leader is telling lies again and again and, therefore, further interrogation and a polygraph test is required.
The special prosecutor further stated that Gill has already confessed that his driver has one of his mobile phones.
“The IO clearly wrote in the plea that it’s not just about the recovery [of the phone] but there are other aspects that need to be investigated,” he said.
