ISLAMABAD   -   The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Thursday declared the arrest of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) activist Sanam Javaid illegal and disposed of her father’s petition seeking her release.

A single bench of IHC comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb conducted hearing of a petition moved by Javaid Iqbal Khan, the father of Sanam, seeking her release from the police custody. The court also received assurances from the attorney general for Pakistan that Sanam will not face further arrests in any related cases while the judge also directed her lawyer to ensure that Sanam will refrain from using inappropriate language in future.

During the hearing, the PTI activist appeared in the courtroom along with her lawyers Mian Ashfaq and Ali Bukhari while Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan also attended the hearing in response to the court’s notice. The attorney general informed the bench that the Balochistan police is not pursuing the plea for her transit remand, affirming that Sanam Javed is now free to return to her province and will not be arrested in any further case.  Addressing the petitioner’s counsel, Justice Aurangzeb mentioned that he had seen inappropriate language used by Sanam Javaid on social media. He sought an assurance from the lawyer whether she would refrain from using such language in the future. Mian Ashfaq assured the court that she would not use inappropriate words in future.

Later, the bench declared the arrest of Sanam as illegal and dismissed the petition for release.