ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan got another relief on Monday as the Supreme Court (SC) stayed the police from arresting the former prime minister till August 9 in the Quetta murder case of senior lawyer Abdul Razzaq Shar.
The ousted prime minister, who was ousted in a no-confidence vote last April, is hearing a petition in the Supreme Court against his nomination in the case related to the Shar shooting in Quetta in June.
Advocate Shar was shot dead by three motorcycle-borne assailants while he was on his way to the Balochistan High Court (BHC) on June 6.
A First Information Report (FIR) was registered against Khan and others under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and other provisions against Khan and others on the complaint of Advocate Siraj Ahmed, son of the slain lawyer in Quetta.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) Attaullah Tarar held the PTI chairman “directly responsible” for the killing, claiming that the target killing was related to the treason case against Imran under Article 6 of the Constitution, which Shaar had requested.
A three-member bench comprising Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Justice Musrat Hilali directed Khan to appear before the court on August 9.
At the commencement of the proceedings, the PTI chief appeared before the court as directed by the bench on the previous hearing.
However, arguments could not be given due to the absence of counsel for the complainant.
Meanwhile, the Advocate General of Balochistan requested the court to order the former prime minister to appear before the Investigating Officer (IO) in the case.
On this, Justice Naqvi inquired why the PTI chief needed to join the investigation.
Justice Afridi then directed the public prosecutor to take instructions regarding the reason for implicating Khan in the investigation and explain it to the court in front of the complainant’s counsel at the next hearing.
Later, the court adjourned the hearing till August 9 on the request of the petitioner.
Khan had filed an application in the Supreme Court to quash the FIR named in the murder case of Advocate Sher. Apart from the bail in the case, they also sought quashing of the decision of the Balochistan High Court (BHC) rejecting a similar petition.
However, a two-judge Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Ayesha A Malik rejected Khan’s bail plea and refused to suspend the BHC order without hearing other parties in the case.
The court held that the two-judge bench of the Supreme Court cannot suspend the order of the two-judge bench of the High Court, directing the PTI chief to approach the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) for hearing the case before a three-judge bench.
