Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President Parvez Elahi's imprisonment under 3-MPO (Maintenance of Public Order) has been halted, and the Islamabad police have been ordered to free him.
Elahi, the former chief minister of Punjab, was freed from custody by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) at the Lahore High Court (LHC) on September 1 but was promptly detained again under 3-MPO by the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) police.
The IHC received a petition from the PTI leader challenging the 3-MPO arrest by the Islamabad police.
The plea seeking the declaration of Elahi's detention under the 3-MPO order as "null and void" was heard by IHC Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri.
During his arguments, Elahi's lawyer argued that his client had been imprisoned for three months and questioned how he could reasonably create a law and order situation while confined.
The lawyer informed the court that his client hadn't made any statements in the past four months.
During the hearing, the lawyer said Elahi has no cases filed against him in Islamabad, and he has been cleared of the corruption case.
He added that the Lahore High Court had ruled that Elahi’s detention by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the corruption case was unlawful.
Elahi's counsel reacted in the negative when the court asked if he had participated in rioting or conducted protests in Islamabad.
He also informed the court about the contempt of court proceedings against the Islamabad district commissioner for passing a similar order against PTI leader and former minister Shehryar Afridi.
Justice Jahangiri remarked that Elahi has been detained for more than three months. The judge then sent a notice to Islamabad DC summoning him to appear in court for the subsequent hearing.
The court also directed Elahi not to make any statements until the next hearing.
Elahi was first detained on June 1 outside of his residence in connection with a Rs70 million fraud case involving the theft of development funds designated for the Gujrat district.