The Islamabad High Court has issued warrants for the plaintiff from Balochistan and the investigating officer (IO) from the Mochko police station in Karachi.
This action comes in response to a case filed against Sheikh Rasheed for using offensive language against Chairman of the People’s Party, Bilawal Bhutto, in both Balochistan and Karachi. The court is considering dismissing these cases.
During the hearing of the case against Sheikh Rasheed for his alleged verbal abuse of Bilawal Bhutto, Sheikh Rasheed requested the dismissal of the cases registered against him in Karachi and Balochistan. The court raised concerns about how a case related to an incident in Islamabad could be registered in other provinces and sought guidance from the Attorney General.
Furthermore, the court issued a bailable warrant for the IO of the case registered at the Mochko police station in Karachi for failing to appear despite summons, instructing the IG Sindh to enforce this warrant. The court also asked the public prosecutor to clarify which specific words were considered offensive and immoral, to which the prosecutor suggested that the investigating officer should have that information.
The court questioned how an incident that occurred in Islamabad led to a case being registered at the Mochko police station in Karachi. The public prosecutor explained that someone had witnessed the incident on social media and subsequently filed a case.
The court expressed skepticism about registering cases in provinces other than where the incident occurred, citing an example of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, which was reported on social media but resulted in a case being registered in Larkana, not Pindi Liaqat Bagh. The court also raised the hypothetical scenario of someone being killed in Islamabad, with the incident shared on social media, and whether a case would then be filed in Karachi.
Additionally, the investigating officer of the case registered against Sheikh Rasheed in the Lasbela area of Balochistan appeared before the court. Balochistan Police informed the court that they had searched for the plaintiff but couldn’t locate them. The court inquired about the status of the FIR and questioned why the investigation had not been halted. Balochistan Police assured the court that the FIR would be dismissed. Consequently, the court issued a bailable warrant for the plaintiff, Ali Asghar, and instructed the IG Balochistan to ensure compliance with the warrant by the next hearing. The court also requested the submission of the Balochistan police report before the next hearing.
Finally, the court adjourned further proceedings on the case until the second week of November.