ISLAMABAD: Following a high-stakes emergency meeting, it has been decided to convert the Parliament Lodges into a sub-jail for the arrested National Assembly members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
The decision was announced after a series of emergency meetings held in the chamber of Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, with key figures such as Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, and PPP leader Syed Naveed Qamar in attendance.
The meeting, which aimed to address the situation of PTI members currently in custody, concluded with an agreement to use the Parliament Lodges for the detention of these members.
Interior Minister Naqvi subsequently visited the speaker’s chamber to inform Speaker Ayaz Sadiq of the decision. All arrested PTI members were also present in the speaker’s chamber at that time. The production orders for the detained PTI members will remain valid for the upcoming 16th session of the National Assembly.
Speaker Ayaz Sadiq approved the decision to use the Parliament Lodges as a sub-jail for the PTI MNAs, after which all arrested PTI members signed the relevant forms. The PTI members are likely to be transferred to the Parliament Lodges today.
Earlier, an in-camera meeting of a special committee, chaired by Syed Khurshid Shah, took place to discuss and streamline parliamentary proceedings. Key participants included Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, federal officials, and members of various political parties. However, Dar and Naveed Qamar left to attend another important meeting, where they were joined by Mohsin Naqvi.
In the meeting, the issue of production orders for the PTI members of the National Assembly was considered. The meeting also discussed the possibility of granting facilities to the PTI members if their bail was not approved by the court.
The meeting further considered placing a draft constitutional amendment before the special committee of parliament. PTI lawmaker Aamir Dogar commented that the PTI could only give its response after reviewing the draft. “The PTI will take its decision after going through the draft,” the party’s chief whip declared.
Government sources indicated that all parliamentary committees would be taken into confidence regarding the constitutional amendment.
When asked by a journalist if important legislation or a constitutional amendment was imminent, as both Senate and National Assembly sessions had been called, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar responded that, for now, the issue of the opposition MNAs was under discussion.
He added that Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi had also been called for the same purpose. “The production orders will remain intact if the National Assembly is in session,” Tarar remarked.
Also on Friday, the Islamabad High Court invalidated the eight-day physical remand of several PTI MNAs arrested after a recent rally in Islamabad, sending them to jail on judicial remand.
A two-member special bench, comprising Chief Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Saman Rifat Imtiaz, delivered the decision, which had been reserved following petitions to annul the physical remand of the detained PTI MNAs.
During the hearing, Chief Justice Aamir Farooq expressed strong concerns about the arrest of lawmakers from within the Parliament House, questioning the procedure followed in arresting MNAs.
“The National Assembly speaker may be doing his job, but the court can also look into the matter. They will not let the dignity of any institution remain intact—what are you doing? Parliament is the mother of all institutions,” the chief justice remarked.
He questioned why parliamentarians were apprehended from within the Parliament, stating, “Look at the situation in the country, and you entered Parliament and arrested the members.”
The prosecutor general argued that “terrible anti-state speeches” were made during the PTI’s rally in Islamabad. In response, the chief justice said, “Even if the allegation is accepted as true, what about the right to a fair trial, which is a right for everyone regardless of the severity of the crime?”
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