The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday directed authorities to release Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senior Vice President Sher Afzal Marwat, who was detained for a month last week under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO).
The lawyer was arrested from outside the LHC on Dec. 14 when he was departing a protest. The PTI subsequently shared footage of his arrest on X, formerly Twitter, and demanded his immediate release. The detention also prompted criticism from several lawyers’ bodies, who said arresting lawyers from outside court premises hampered their ability to perform their jobs.
On Friday, the LHC had issued notices to the police and the Lahore deputy commissioner on a petition seeking Marwat’s release and nullification of his detention order. In its response, the Punjab government stated the PTI should have first approached the relevant forum—the provincial government—for Marwat’s release, as his detention order was issued by the D.C. It also requested the court to dismiss the plea.
Rejecting the government plea, Justice Shehram Sarwar Chaudhry ordered the release of the PTI leader on bail.
Marwat, one of the lawyers representing former PTI chief Imran Khan in various cases, was made the SVP of the party last month and has since organized various workers’ conventions in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Prior to his arrest, he had vowed to expand his outreach to Punjab.