Imran Khan was granted pre-arrest bail after a petition was filed in the High Court. (file)
Islamabad:
The Islamabad High Court on Sunday granted pre-arrest bail to former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and directed him to appear before the concerned court in a contempt case before October 7.
This comes after an arrest warrant was issued for the former prime minister in connection with his controversial remarks against Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Jeba Chowdhury and other officials at a public rally on August 20.
Activists gathered in Banigala to thwart any arrest attempt, protesting the arrest warrant issued by Senior Civil Judge Rana Mujahid Rahim Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Friday. According to the Dawn report, activists warned that if Imran Khan is arrested it will be considered as crossing the “red line”.
Imran Khan had on Sunday granted him pre-arrest bail after he filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court through his lawyer Babar Awan. In the petition, Imran said that initially a case of terrorism was registered against him, however, he added that later the High Court dismissed the charges and the case was transferred.
He further accused the coalition government led by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif of falsely registering a case against him. Describing the government as “corrupt”, Imran Khan said all this was only to quash peaceful demonstrations.
Taking up the petition filed by Imran Khan, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani restrained the Islamabad Police from arresting Imran and the court allowed Imran’s bail against furnishing a surety of Rs 10,000 and sent him to the concerned court before Friday. instructed to appear.
Speaking to the media outside the court, Imran Khan’s lawyer Awan said that the IHC had granted “temporary protective bail before his arrest” to the PTI chief, adding that “we will appear in the trial court before October 7”. “Warrants are issued to ensure the presence of suspects before the court,” the spokesman said.
An Islamabad police officer said Imran Khan’s case was transferred to a sessions court after the Islamabad High Court dropped the terrorism charges. Earlier, the Islamabad High Court had asked Imran Khan to file an affidavit. ARY News reported that Imran Khan submitted an affidavit saying that he realized he had “crossed a threshold” at a public rally in the capital on August 20.
The Express Tribune, citing the affidavit, reported that Imran Khan assured the court that he would not do anything in future that would hurt the dignity of any court and judiciary, especially the lower judiciary.
Significantly, on August 20, the magistrate of Margalla police station in Islamabad had issued a warrant in the case registered against the PTI chief for threatening Additional District and Sessions Judge Jeba Choudhary.
At a rally in Islamabad’s F-9 Park, the PTI president had warned that he would “not spare” Islamabad’s Inspector General, Deputy Inspector General and women magistrates, in the case against them for allegedly torturing PTI leader Shahbaz Gill. I vowed to register. ,
Addressing the rally, he said, “We will not spare the IG and DIG.” The former prime minister summoned Additional District and Sessions Judge Chowdhary, who granted Gill’s two-day physical remand at the request of the capital police, and said he should prepare himself as a case would also be registered against him. Earth News.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)