A sessions judge in Karachi on Friday directed the Station House Officer (SHO) of Mithadar Police Station to record the statement of a PPP leader under Section 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code and register an FIR against the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf federal minister, Faisal Vawda, if a cognisable offence was made out.

PPP’s Advocate Qadir Khan Mandokhail had approached the court, pleading it to direct the police to register an FIR against Vawda for using non-parliamentary language against the PPP and PML-N leadership and violating the sanctity of the armed forces.

During the hearing on Friday, Additional Sessions Judge (South) Ghulam Murtaza Baloch passed these directives while disposing of an application filed by Mandokhail under Section 22-A of the CrPC. The PPP leader had approached the court against the Mithadar SHO for allegedly not entertaining his application to register a case against the PTI leader.

At the outset, the South Superintendent of Police (SP) filed a report in compliance with the court’s order, claiming that the applicant had not approached him for the registration of the case and requested the judge to direct Advocate Mandokhail to approach the relevant police station so that his grievance may be addressed.

In his application, Mandokhail submitted that the federal minister, Faisal Vawda, had used non-parliamentary language against the PPP and PML-N leadership during a talk show on a private television channel on Jan 14, where he also put a boot on the table on-camera, as he criticised the opposition parties for having voted in favour of a proposed law tabled in the parliament regarding the extension in tenure of the army chief.

The applicant stated that the PTI leader’s allegation that the PPP voted in the favor of extension in the army chief’s tenure was baseless, but Vawda tried to portray that the army was behind such political activities and the opposition parties supported the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Act 2020 under pressure.

He argued that the PTI leader violated the sanctity of the armed forces as well as the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority Act, thus he had approached the Mithadar police for registering a case against him. The police officials had, however, refused to entertain his plea.

The applicant alleged that Faisal Vawda, who he claimed is a US national, was deliberately trying to defame the country. He contended that the PTI leader has committed violation of the Rules 3(1), 4, 5, 3 and 17 of the Pemra Act, adding that the prime minister himself had banned the party leader for two weeks from giving statements in the media, which itself was an admission of the commissioning of Vawda’s offence.

The applicant pleaded to direct the police to lodge a case against Vawda under Section 121-A (a conspiracy to commit offences punishable by Section 121, which pertains to waging or attempting to wage war or abetting waging of war against Pakistan) and 140 (wearing garb or carrying token used by soldier, sailor or airman) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

He also sought direction for the relevant authorities to take back the portfolio of federal minister for water resources from Vawda and de-seat him from the membership of the National Assembly.