ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court has stopped the police from arresting Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case.
Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Aamir Farooq heard Imran Khan’s plea challenging the order of the District and Sessions Court of Islamabad, which had issued the PTI chief’s arrest warrant.
The High Court said that the former prime minister should be given an opportunity to appear in court.
The Registrar’s Office of the IHC had raised an objection to the petition challenging Imran Khan’s arrest warrant in the Toshakhana case.
The office noted that the PTI chief’s biometric verification is not available. How can the High Court hear the same matter which it has already decided? The office also questioned.
Later, the court decided to hear Khan’s plea with RO’s objections.
In his petition, the former prime minister had challenged the Islamabad court’s decision to reject the plea for suspension of the arrest warrant issued against him in the Toshakhana gifts case.
Khan, who is confined to his Zaman Park residence in Lahore in defiance of a court order directing him to appear before the court, filed the petition through his lawyer Khawaja Haris.
In his petition, the PTI chairman pleaded that: “The undertaking be accepted and the police be restrained from making arrests.”
The PTI chief assured the court to appear in the Islamabad court tomorrow (Saturday), requesting the court to hear his plea immediately.
“[…] non-bailable warrant of arrest has been issued by this court just for the appearance of the applicant. The applicant is ready and willing to appear before this court on the fixed date i.e. 18.03.2023 and he has given his undertaking in this regard,” the petition read.
“It is great law that the purpose of issuing a non-bailable warrant of arrest is to secure the attendance of the accused and the undertaking has served the purpose of the warrant. To be unjustly humiliated.”
Court rejects Khan’s pleaÂ
An Islamabad court on Thursday rejected Khan’s plea to suspend the non-bailable arrest warrant issued in the Toshakhana case.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal while pronouncing the reserved judgment directed the concerned authorities to arrest the former prime minister and produce him in the court on March 18.
He said that this decision has been taken after examining every aspect of the law, hoping that the petitioners will enjoy reading the detailed decision.
Imran Khan was indicted in the reference on February 28, even before that, his continued absence from the hearing was contested several times. Later, the court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for the PTI chairman.
The party on Tuesday requested the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to suspend Khan’s non-bailable arrest warrant in the Toshakhana case, but the high court directed the ousted prime minister’s lawyer to move the trial court as his arrest It was ordered. according to law”
