Fawad Chaudhry, Shah Mahmood Qureshi booked for offensive speeches in Lahore.

Authorities have charged Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Fawad Chaudhry with making inflammatory comments and alleging state institutions of plotting to kill former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The first information report (FIR) was filed in the Punjab capital’s Racecourse police station on the complaint of Sub-inspector Waseem. According to the FIR, both PTI stalwarts held a news conference at Lahore’s Zaman Park, where they reportedly incited the populace to violence.

According to the statement, the news conference produced a traffic bottleneck on the main Canal Road, and Mr Chaudhry attempted to incite hatred against state institutions. According to the Complaint, the PTI leader further accused state institutions of planning an assassination conspiracy against Imran Khan.

On March 5, a squad of capital police officers arrived at Imran Khan’s Lahore mansion, Zaman Park, after an Islamabad district and sessions court issued a non-bailable arrest order for him in the Toshakhana case.

Read More: Fawad Chaudhry granted bail.

Fawad Chaudhry later turned to social media to warn that any attempt to arrest the PTI head will worsen the situation. He further said that the government was pressuring Mr Khan to appear in court so that they could carry out a plan to assassinate him. He also asked people to begin planning rallies across the country in the event that the PTI head is arrested.

Nevertheless, Mr Qureshi told the media that the PTI chairman faced security threats, but he attended in court. He stated that the party would go through the legal process in the case.

Temporary Bail

Fawad Chaudhry later petitioned a court for interim bail in the case. Additional Sessions Judge Nadeem Hassan granted bail till March 20 and ordered the police not to arrest him.

The PTI leader said that a complaint had been filed against him for political victimisation and that he wanted to participate in the investigation to state the truth.