ISLAMABAD  -  Former National Assembly speaker and senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Asad Qaiser has been sent to Adiala jail by a judicial magistrate on Saturday.

On Friday, the veteran politician was taken into custody from his Islamabad residence by police and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Anti- Corruption Establishment (ACE) over alleged corruption in procurement relating to Swabi’s Gajju Khan Medical College.

The first information report (FIR) registered on the complaint of former ACE investigation officer Hidayat Shah, accuses Qasier and four health department officials of causing Rs16.456 million worth of loss to the treasury by “stealing” the equipment and purchasing substandard furniture.

The Islamabad police today presented Qasier before a judicial magistrate in Islamabad seeking PTI stalwart’s remand in the graft case. Meanwhile, PTI’s legal team comprising Shoaib Sha­heen Barrister Gohar Ali Khan urged the court to “dis­charge” the PTI leader.

“[We] are filing an applica­tion for Asad Qaiser’s protec­tive bail,” Shaheen told the ju­dicial magistrate.

The lawyer also questioned why the KP police didn’t ap­prehend Qaiser from the KP as he frequently visits the province. 

“Who gave Islamabad police the authority to arrest Qasier?” “The KP police wrote to the Is­lamabad police to arrest Qasi­er,” Shaheen said, adding: “If KP anti-corruption police had sought federal capital police’s assistance [then] it would’ve been a different [matter].”

Furthermore, Barrister Khan reprimanded the man­ner in which Qaiser was tak­en into custody.

“There’s a way [and pro­cedure] to make an arrest,” Khan said. He also ques­tioned whether the KP po­lice have a warrant to arrest the PTI leader. Meanwhile, the judge — commenting on the prospects of Qasi­er’s bail — said that a judi­cial magistrate court could not approve the PTI lead­er’s bail. The court then di­rected the authorities to shift the PTI bigwig to Adia­la jail where he is to be kept in judicial lockup — till ACE transfers him to KP.