A court in Islamabad on March 14 suspended a non-bailable arrest warrant issued against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan for threatening a woman magistrate while addressing a public gathering here last year.
Dawn news reported a non-bailable arrest warrant was issued against PTI’s supremo, Imran Khan, on March 13 for using threatening language against Additional District and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry and the Islamabad police officials.
His counsel in March 13 hearing said the PTI leader was ready to attend the court proceedings through a video link, but Senior Civil Judge Rana Mujahid Rahim, rejecting his plea, instructed the police to produce the cricketer-turned-politician in court by March 29.
The PTI also challenged the warrants in the district court. His lawyer claimed it was not safe for the former Prime Minister to come to Islamabad amid security threats against him, adding that they had filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) asking permission to appear virtually before the courts. The court said the arguments raised by Imran Khan’s petition needed consideration.
“Now to come up for arguments on March 16. In the meanwhile, operation of the impugned order is hereby suspended till the next date,” the court order said.
Clouds of gloom still looming for Imran Khan
Many have reported that Lawyers Naeem Panjotha and Intizar Panjotha appeared in court in March 14 hearing, where Panjotha argued that all the sections invoked against the PTI chief were bailable to which the judge asked if non-bailable arrest warrants had been issued for Imran Khan earlier as well.
Before this, arrest warrants had not been issued in the case related to threatening the woman judge, the lawyer replied. For his part, the Government’s lawyer informed the court that arrest warrants for Khan were also issued in the Toshakhana case.
The judge also remarked that the ex-premier was leading an election rally in Lahore, to which his lawyer stated that Imran Khan had appeared in the judicial complex last month.
He was initially booked under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). Besides, Islamabad High Court (IHC) also initiated contempt of court proceedings against him.
However, the IHC later removed the terrorism charges and also pardoned Imran Khan following an apology in the contempt case by the former premier. A similar case was filed after a first information report (FIR) was filed against him for threatening the judge, which is pending before the sessions court.
A team of Islamabad Police on March 13 flew to Lahore to arrest Imran Khan for threatening the woman judge after the district and sessions court issued his non-bailable arrest warrant for failing to attend the hearing in that case. 70-year-old Khan, who is recovering from a gunshot injury from an assassination attempt in Wazirabad last year, has skipped indictment hearings in these cases.
According to him, he was facing at least 80 such cases in various courts across Pakistan. He was dethroned last year after losing no confidence vote. He alleges that it was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China, and Afghanistan.
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