Islamabad court approves Shahbaz Gill's physical remand for 48 hours

Islamabad: PTI leader Shahbaz Gill was remanded by a sessions court for two days to the Islamabad police custody on Wednesday.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry announced a verdict that was reserved earlier today.

"Muhammad Shahbaz Shabbir Gill is given in the custody of the investigating officer for the purpose of investigation for 48 hours," the court order reads.

The judge also directed the investigation officer to get the respondent medically examined and submit a report to the court.

The PTI has alleged that Gill was tortured in police custody previously and remains in danger of being subjected to further torture if he is handed back to the Islamabad police.

Gill was arrested by the Islamabad police on August 9, soon after he made controversial remarks on television that the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) deemed were "highly hateful and seditious".

The court's remanding of Gill to Islamabad police custody comes less than a week after a court rejected a police request to extend Gill's two-day physical remand and an additional district and sessions judge dismissed a plea requesting a review of the district court's order.

A plea challenging these orders was filed by Islamabad Advocate General Jahangir Khan Jadoon in the Islamabad High Court on Saturday last week.

The authorities had maintained in the plea that the physical remand of Gill — who was in judicial custody on charges of sedition and inciting mutiny in the armed forces following his controversial remarks on ARY News — is important for the completion of the case's investigation.

The IHC on Tuesday referred a plea seeking Gill's physical remand to the sessions court for the hearing.