Islamabad, March 29
Pakistan’s Islamabad court on Wednesday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan in the case of threatening a judge, Geo News reported.
Islamabad court’s civil judge announced the verdict rejecting Khan’s petition seeking the exemption from today’s hearing.
The case dates back to August 20, 2022 when the PTI chairman had condemned the police as well as the judiciary over the alleged custodial torture of Shahbaz Gill and announced that his party would file cases against then-Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Akbar Nasir Khan, the DIG and Additional District and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry.
Initially, Imran was booked under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). Besides, Islamabad High Court (IHC) also initiated contempt of court proceedings against him, according to Geo News.
Meanwhile, today in the hearing, Khan’s lawyers requested to retain his bailable arrest warrant as he was facing security threats.
“Imran Khan has security concerns, his life is in danger, the Islamabad High Court has also issued notices for withdrawing security from him,” the PTI chief’s counsel said.
At this, the judge said that no one has appeared on behalf of the prosecution yet, let’s see what they have to say.
Earlier, on Friday, the Islamabad district and sessions court converted the non-bailable arrest warrant, issued to PTI Chairman in the alleged threats to a judge case, into a bailable warrant, according to Dawn.
The court dismissed the former premier’s plea to extend the suspension of the said arrest warrant as it announced the verdict today.
On March 13, Senior Civil Judge Rana Mujahid Rahim had issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Imran while hearing a case registered against the ex-premier for using threatening language against ADSJ Zeba Chaudhry and the Islamabad police officials, according to Dawn.
The cricket star-turned-politician has faced a barrage of legal woes since his ouster in a confidence vote in April last year by a united opposition led by his successor as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
