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An Islamabad anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Thursday issued bailable arrest warrants for PTI Chairman Imran Khan in three cases pertaining to violence outside the Federal Judicial Complex (FJC) and the Islamabad High Court (IHC) earlier this year.
In early March, the former premier had been booked by the capital’s Ramna police in two cases accusing him of leading mobs to the FJC and the IHC as he appeared for hearings there.
He had been booked in a separate case by the Golra police station for creating unrest outside the FJC when he went there on March 18 in the Toshakhana case.
During the hearing today, Imran’s legal team had requested an exemption from the hearing for their client, to which ATC judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain remarked that he must appear in court.
Imran’s counsel, Advocate Sardar Masroof informed the court that his client had to appear in the Lahore High Court today, due to which he would not be able to come to Islamabad.
Issuing bailable arrest warrants for Imran, the court did the same for PTI leaders Farrukh Habib, Senator Shibli Faraz and Imran’s nephew Hassaan Niazi in the case of allegedly attacking the FJC.
The court then adjourned the hearing till July 19, summoning the PTI chief and other suspects in the cases in person on that day.
On March 1, Imran and 28 other PTI leaders and activists, were booked after police accused them of vandalism and threatening officials on duty after a mob of party supporters broke into the FJC in Islamabad and the IHC, damaging property and threatening officials.
As many as 29 people were arrested, including officials from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police as well as private guards.
On March 19, hours-long clashes between police and supporters of the former prime minister had left at least 25 people injured and 30 vehicles damaged.
The violence had erupted as Khan arrived at the FJC to attend a hearing in the Toshakhana corruption case.
Sessions court adjourns Toshakhana hearing till tomorrow
Meanwhile, a district and sessions court in Islamabad exempted the PTI chief from appearing in person in the Toshakhana case.
The Toshakhana reference was sent to the trial court by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) seeking criminal proceedings against the PTI chief for concealing details of state gifts.
During yesterday’s hearing, Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Humayun Dilawar had also exempted Imran from personal appearance but had warned that the court would not exempt him in the future.
However, on Thursday, Imran’s legal team appeared in court, with Barrister Gohar Ali Khan filing a request seeking to exempt Imran from appearing in court.
But ECP lawyer Saad Hassan opposed the plea, and argued that the witness in the case had dropped his commitments and was present in Islamabad.
ADSJ Dilawar, however, approved Imran’s plea, adding that he was fixing the case for Saturday (July 15).
Barrister Gohar urged the court to fix the case for Monday, to which ECP lawyer Amjad Pervez said that this was “perhaps the worse case in the history of criminal law”.
“The accused hasn’t appeared before the court ever since the case began,” he said. Pervez told the court that the ECP wanted to give their arguments in the case on Friday due to prior commitments on Saturday.
The court accepted the request and adjourned the hearing till tomorrow (Friday) and told the PTI to present their arguments on Monday (July 17).
Imran, Bushra Bibi’s bail in Al Qadir Trust case extended
Meanwhile, an Islamabad accountability court extended Imran and his wife, Bushra Bibi’s, interim bail in the Al Qadir Trust case till July 19.
The Al Qadir Trust case alleges that the ex-premier and his wife obtained billions of rupees and land worth hundreds of kanals from Bahria Town Ltd for legalising Rs50 billion that was identified and returned to the country by the UK during the previous PTI government.
Judge Muhammad Bashir presided over today’s hearing while National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Deputy Prosecutor General Sardar Muzaffar appeared in the court.
The PTI chairman’s legal team filed a plea seeking exemption from personal appearance, citing the same reason that he had to appear in the LHC in cases pertaining to violence in the country on May 9.
At this, the judge directed Imran’s counsel to send the plea to the accountability bureau as well.
Advocate Khawaja Harris then requested the court to set the date for hearing his team’s arguments as July 19 as the same date was given by other courts.
The judge accepted the lawyer’s request and extended Imran and Bushra Bibi’s interim bail till then, seeking the PTI legal team’s final arguments on that day.