Dost Muhammad Mazari was placed in jail on judicial remand after a district and sessions court in Lahore on Friday rejected the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) Punjab’s request to extend the former deputy speaker of the Punjab Assembly’s physical remand.
After Dost Mazari’s two-day physical remand was up, the ACE presented him in court for trial.
The former deputy speaker of the provincial assembly was arrested last week by ACE Punjab in connection with an alleged land encroachment case.
For its recent actions against Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, ACE Punjab was criticised by the Lahore High Court (LHC) last month for turning into a “political tool.”
The comments were made by the LHC’s Rawalpindi bench during the hearing of the minister’s case challenging the validity of the arrest warrants issued by ACE Punjab.
The court told the Director-General of ACE Punjab, Nadeem Sarwar, who was also present during the hearing, “Your institution has become a political tool.”
The court observed, “One [DG] comes and forms a case, and another (DG) comes and finishes that case.” Additionally, it criticised the official for using a fraudulent statement to obtain Sanaullah’s arrest warrants.
