Ashish Ranjan
Non-bailable arrest warrant against Imran Khan: Imran Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan and current chairman of the PTI, was issued non-bailable arrest warrants on Monday by an Islamabad district and sessions court in connection with a case involving the use of threatening language against a female additional district and sessions judge and senior police officers, according to the Pakistani newspaper Dawn.
According to instructions from senior civil judge Rana Mujahid Rahim to the police, the former prime minister must be detained and brought before the court by March 29 at the latest.
He added that the court would hear arguments on Imran’s petition to dismiss the case at subsequent proceedings.
On August 20, the PTI chairman denounced the police and the judiciary for alleged torture of Shahbaz Gill in custody and announced that his party would file lawsuits against the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr. Akbar Nasir Khan, the Director of Investigations (DIG), and Additional District and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry.
Imran was initially indicted for violations of the Pakistan Criminal Code (PPC) and the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). The Islamabad High Court (IHC) also lodged a contempt of court complaint against him.
After Imran’s apology in the contempt case, the IHC withdrew the terrorism charges against him and also granted him clemency. Nonetheless, the sessions court is currently hearing a comparable case that was filed after a first information report (FIR) was filed against him for threatening the judge.
As the hearing resumed today, the PTI filed a request for Imran to be excused from personal appearance.
In a separate case, a district and sessions court in Islamabad postponed a ruling on a petition submitted by PTI Chairman Imran Khan requesting an exemption from court appearance in the Toshakhana case.Additional District and Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal is scheduled to deliver the verdict at approximately 15:15.
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As he recovers from a gunshot wound he sustained in a thwarted assassination attempt in Wazirabad last year, the 70-year-old former prime minister has missed three indictment hearings before an Islamabad sessions court in the case.
