Balochistan High Court (BHC) on Friday suspended Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s arrest warrant for two weeks issued by a local court in a case registered against him in Quetta.
The suspension comes as a Quetta police squad comes to Lahore to arrest the PTI leader in accordance with a court order.
On behalf of the PTI leader, Iqbal Shah of the Insaf Lawyers Forum (ISF) filed a petition, which was heard by Judge Zaheer-Ud-Din Kakar of the BHC.
The court was asked to reject the FIR since, according to the plea, the crime was not committed inside the boundaries of the Bijli Police Station, where the complaint had been filed.
The Balochistan police chief, SP legal, and the station house officer of the Bijli Police Station all received summonses along with the suspension of the warrant by Justice Kakar.
The hearing was then adjourned for two weeks.
Quetta police arrive in Lahore for arrest
To arrest the PTI leader, a five-person squad led by Superintendent of Police (SP) Investigations Nadeem had arrived in Lahore. The team consists of two more officials, Deputy Superintendent of Police Abdul Sattar, and a sub-inspector.
In a case brought against him under several provisions of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and the Prevention of Internet Crimes Act, 2016, a local court in Quetta had issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for the PTI leader the day before (PECA).
The arrest warrant was issued by the judge, who also instructed the police to take the former prime minister to court.
The case
A first information report (FIR) was filed at a police station in Quetta against Khan for the remarks he made at a speech on Sunday about state institutions and their employees.
Abdul Khalil Kakar, the complainant, filed a police report against the PTI leader at the Bijli Road Police Station. The PPC’s Sections 153A, 124A, and 505 as well as Section 20 of the PECA were included in the FIR.
The PTI leader’s statement, according to Kakar, was an effort to undermine public peace and order.
After a squad of Islamabad police arrived at the PTI leader’s Zaman Park mansion to arrest him in the Toshakhana case, the leader of the party took a harsh stance against “state institutions” in a speech on Sunday.
The former prime minister, who was removed from office in April of last year, unleashed his fury in front of party members and participants in the “Jail Bharo Tehreek” at the Zaman Park home in Lahore (voluntary arrest movement).
The PTI chairman added in his vehement statement that he had never kneeled before a group or individual and would never permit the country to do so.
