A district and sessions court suspended on Tuesday Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s arrest warrant issued against him in the case regarding his controversial remarks against a female judge during a rally in Islamabad till March 16.
The former prime minister challenged the arrest warrant in court, which caused the development. Judge Faizan Haider Gillani of the extra sessions heard his petition.
A police party from the federal capital flew to Lahore by helicopter to arrest Khan after senior civil judge Rana Mujahid Rahim issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for him the day before for consistently failing to show up in court.
Imran Khan skipped the hearing and submitted an exemption plea to avoid appearing in person in front of the judge, requesting authorization to participate electronically via video link.
The judge rejected the deposed premier’s appeal after his administration was overthrown in April of last year following a no-confidence vote, and it then ordered the police to bring Khan before it by March 29.
Todays hearing
The arrest warrants were challenged by Khan’s legal team, which included lawyers Naeem Haider Panjotha and Intezar Haider Panjotha, at the beginning of the hearing.
The conditions placed on the PTI leader, according to Imran Khan’s legal team, are all subject to bail.
When Judge Gillani questioned if past arrest warrants were subject to bail, the attorney said they had not.
The judge said he was having trouble understanding the documents that had been presented, so the court ordered Khan’s attorneys to correct the pertinent documents and submit them.
Imran Khan is a former premier, so the government must ensure his security, according to the lawyers. Imran Khan no longer has security, according to the PTI leader’s lawyer.
The judge directed the lawyer to present a letter mentioning the removal of Khan’s security by tomorrow after asking if one existed (Wednesday). The judge added some observations regarding the launch of the former premier’s campaign.
Imran Khan showed up at the courthouse, the lawyer said.
In his remarks, the government’s lawyer claimed that Khan had also been called in the Toshakhana case.
The judge commented about Khan appearing in the courts but not in front of the katchehri throughout the session.
“The katchehri was attacked in 2014, did it shift after that?” inquired judge Gillani, adding that the katchehri did not even shift when Imran Khan was in power.
“Tell me about the PTI’s single legal reform,” he added.
The judge said that Khan can come to the katchehri as he has appeared there before as well.
He further remarked that the court called for Khan to give him copies of the case. “The copies of the case are provided to the suspect in a personal capacity and not to anyone else,” he said.
If the sections are eligible to bail or not, the prosecutor said they were not related to the warrant.
Imran Khan’s lawyer declared, “This is my case,” and added that security had been withdrawn from him.
The judge requested a letter from the lawyer to the court in this regard.
Khan’s petition to appear via video link has also been submitted to the Islamabad High Court, thus the attorney appealed for a date in March.
“You are aware of the outcome of the video link. You have two months from now, the court remarked.
The lawyer said he cannot appear due to personal engagements, requesting the court for Thursday’s date.
After this, the court issued notices to the parties and ordered Khan’s lawyers to produce documents related to withdrawal of Khan’s security.
The hearing was then adjourned till March 16.
