Judge Zafar Iqbal of the Additional District and Sessions (ADSJ) Court stated on Thursday that if PTI Chairman Imran Khan turned himself in to the court, he would prevent the Islamabad police from arresting him in the Toshakhana case.
When the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) referred Imran for criminal prosecution for hiding information about Toshakhana gifts, the judge made these comments.
Imran was scheduled to be indicted in the reference by the sessions court on February 28, but his lawyer had asked the judge to excuse him from the hearing since he had to show up in numerous other courts. He had previously had his indictment postponed several times.
Imran was then given non-bailable arrest warrants, and the judge ordered the police to bring him before the court by March 7. The PTI leader avoided being taken into custody and then petitioned the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to have the warrants revoked.
Imran was given some reprieve by the IHC, but was still instructed to appear in the sessions court on March 13; nevertheless, the former prime minister again skipped the hearing. As a result, Imran was granted new non-bailable arrest warrants on Monday by ADSJ Iqbal, who also ordered the police to take him to court by March 18.
PTI supporters and law enforcement agents engaged in two days of fierce combat when the police attempted to arrest Imran at his Zaman Park mansion in Lahore on Tuesday. After the courts got involved on Wednesday, the fights eventually stopped.
The most recent arrest warrants for Imran were also contested by the PTI on the same day before the IHC. The PTI leader was told to give the trial court an undertaking stating that he would appear at the hearing on March 18 after the plea was rejected.
The case was picked up again by the ADSJ Iqbal court on Thursday morning. Khawaja Haris Ahmed and Babar Awan, Imran’s attorneys, were present.
