LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Tuesday rejected a police request for further physical remand of PTI leader Hammad Azhar in the Jinnah House attack case and sent him to jail on judicial remand.
Sarwar Road police had booked several PTI leaders and workers on charges of attacking and vandalising Jinnah House during the May 9, 2023 protests against the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan.
According to his family, Azhar was arrested on Sept 5. However, police said the next day they were unaware of his arrest, and he was produced before an ATC on Sept 7. His initial 21-day physical remand was extended at least twice.
Subsequently, upon the completion of the latest 12-day remand, the PTI leader was presented before ATC Judge Sardar Muhammad Akram Khan on Tuesday.
The investigating officer sought further physical remand of the former finance minister, stating that the police wanted to conduct a polygraph test, also known as a lie detector test.
However, Azhar’s counsel, Barrister Abuzar Salman Niazi, argued that a polygraph test required the suspect’s consent.
He argued that according to a Lahore High Court judgment, the procedure was to be conducted during judicial remand.
The lawyer said the suspect was also required to make a statement before a magistrate indicating whether he wished to undergo the test.
Azhar told the court that he did not want to undergo the test if the law allowed him to refuse it. He said a suspect should not be punished for the prosecution’s alleged lack of knowledge about the legal requirements.
After hearing arguments from the prosecution and the defence over the proposed polygraph test, Judge Akram dismissed the police request for further physical remand and sent Azhar to jail under judicial custody.
Barrister Niazi hailed the verdict, writing on X that his client’s “50-day physical remand finally ends”.
Azhar served as a federal minister for multiple portfolios during the PTI government, including finance, industries and energy.
In the aftermath of the May 2023 riots, when the state launched a crackdown against the party leadership, he had gone into hiding and reappeared in public a year later, on May 22, 2024.
In 2025, he reiterated his decision to step down as the president of the PTI’s Punjab chapter, citing a lack of access to Imran.