NA speaker issues production order for missing PTI lawmaker Haji Imtiaz

ISLAMABAD, AUG 24: National Assembly (NA) Speaker Ayaz Sadiq on Saturday issued a production order for PTI MNA Haji Imtiaz Ahmad Chaudhry after his party moved a privilege against several Punjab police officials.

According to the motion moved by the PTI, Chaudhry was arrested by law enforcement authorities without obtaining prior approval from the speaker on July 24.

Today, the speaker again issued a production order — an order was issued earlier but was reverted later — for the production of the PTI MNA on August 26 at 5pm.

“Honourable speaker considers [the] presence of Haji Imtiaz Ahmed Chaudhry … during the said session of the National Assembly necessary,” the order said.

The speaker directed the director general of the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) to produce Chaudhry at the commencement of each NA sitting before the Parliament House’s sergeant-at-arms who will deliver the MNA into ACE custody after each NA sitting.

The opposition lawmaker was in ACE custody on physical remand in connection with a graft case, facing charges of receiving Rs2 million commission in a development scheme.

Gujranwala Headquarters Circle Officer (CO) Aftab Haider had told Gujrat police that an ACE team had taken the MNA to Mandi Bahauddin for the recovery of the “commission amount” he had allegedly received, adding that a sum of Rs300,000 had already been recovered from the suspect.

However, the CO had said, that as the ACE team was bringing the lawmaker back to Gujranwala on Tuesday night, around a dozen armed men in three vehicles intercepted the official vehicle on the new Shadiwal Road and opened indiscriminate fire.

The CO had said that to save themselves from the bullets, the ACE officials left the vehicle to find shelter. Meanwhile, he had said, the armed men took away the MNA, who was still in the official vehicle, with them.

Gujrat Saddar police registered a kidnapping case against the unidentified suspects under Sections 353, 324, 427, 186, 224, 225, 148 and 149 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), on the report of ACE CO and started an investigation.

Chaudhry was elected as an independent candidate (backed by the PTI) in the February 8 polls. Earlier, he had been elected as an MNA, for the first time, in the 2018 elections on the PTI ticket.