Video footage showed Chaudhry dashing out of the vehicle.
Islamabad:
Pakistan’s former information minister Fawad Chaudhry on Tuesday made a sprint of his life to evade re-arrest by dashing into the building of a high court here.
Fawad Chaudhry of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf had been detained under the Maintenance of Public Order regulation in the wake of violent protests by the supporters of his party following Imran Khan’s arrest last week, and had filed a petition for acquittal in the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
Hahahaha! “Takkar Ke Log”. Fawad Chaudhry RAN back to the high court after looking at the police. The so-called warriors of “Haqeeqi Azadi”! 😂 Zardari was right when he said, “Imran Ka Zawaal Shuru”. Tank ke agay laitna nahi tha?pic.twitter.com/92HI7zMxYj
— Saad Kaiser 🇵🇰 (@TheSaadKaiser) May 16, 2023
Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb after hearing the plea ordered his release after he submitted an undertaking that he would not partake in or incite any violent protest, prompting a triumphant Chaudhry to saunter out without waiting for the issuance of a written order by the court.
The high escape drama with the former minister, clad in traditional salwar-kameez, unveiled when after entering his white SUV to go home, he sensed that police officials were approaching him.
TV footage showed Chaudhry dashing out of the vehicle and running towards the entrance of the court building. He was seen hunching over and panting when a lawyer came to help him. Someone in the background is heard as saying “bring water for him” and another voice quips that he is “about to pass out”.
Rule of the jungle. After being released by IHC, the police tries to re arrest Fawad again illegally. Clearly either there are spoilers who don’t want a national consensus to be reached or these calls for dialogue mean nothing. Which is it?
Stay strong @fawadchaudhry… pic.twitter.com/WWaFlwfb0k— Jarrar Shah (@jerryshah) May 16, 2023
“They [tried] to arrest again,” his wife Hiba said on Twitter.
Later Chaudhry informed Justice Aurangzeb that police tried to arrest him despite the bail given by the court. The judge in response provided proverbial cold comfort. “You should have waited for the written order considering you are a practitioner (lawyer) yourself,” the judge said.
Eventually the minister got a major relief when late in the evening the same judge barred authorities from arresting Chaudhry in any case.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)