LAHORE: A judicial magistrate on Tuesday denied physical remand of retired Capt Muhammad Safdar, husband of PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz Sharif, to the police and sent him to jail on judicial remand in a case of alleged hate speech.

Islampura police presented Mr Safdar before the magistrate in the evening (after office hours) around 6pm while security was beefed up on the court premises since morning.

Mr Safdar was arrested late on Monday night when he was returning to Lahore through motorway from Bhera.

A deputy district prosecutor told the magistrate that the suspect was charged with inciting people against the government and state institutions. He said the suspect was arrested on a directive issued by Lahore deputy commissioner.

He said police needed 14-day physical remand of the suspect for investigation.

Advocate Farhad Ali Shah defended Mr Safdar and argued that the police acted with mala fide intention. He pointed out that the police initially lodged FIR under section 16 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) and later inserted sections 124 & 506 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) in it as well.

He said the case against his client was nothing but a result of “political victimisation”. He also questioned the police for bringing Mr Safdar to the court two hours after the office timings.

Judicial Magistrate Asif Ali Rana turned down the request of the police and sent Mr Safdar to jail on judicial remand.

The magistrate sought appearance of Mr Safdar on Nov 5 and also issued notice to the police for Oct 24 on his bail petition.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2019