Court Suspends Warrant Against Imran Khan
A top court in Pakistan on Friday suspended the non-bailable arrest warrant issued against ousted prime minister Imran Khan in a case of hate speech against state institutions after his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party filed a petition against the move.
The non-bailable arrest warrant was issued against Khan on Thursday on behalf of a citizen for “spreading hate” against state institutions and their offices following his recent speech.
The suspension of the warrant came amid the arrival of a Quetta police team in Lahore to arrest the PTI chairman as per a court order, reported Geo News.
Khan’s party filed a petition in the Balochistan high court (BHC) against the orders of a judicial magistrate in Quetta, urging it to cancel the arrest warrant and also quash the First Information Report (FIR) filed against him at a police station in Quetta, capital of Balochistan.
The plea maintained that the offence wasn’t committed in the jurisdiction of Bijli Police Station where the case had been registered and requested the court to dismiss the FIR.
BHC justice Zaheer-ud-Din Kakar suspended the arrest warrant and adjourned the hearing for two weeks after issuing notices to the Balochistan inspector general of police, director of the investigation, senior superintendent (legal), the station house officer, and the complainant.
The judicial magistrate had ordered the police to arrest Khan, 70, and present him before the court.
This case is the latest of more than 76 cases filed against Khan since his removal from office in April 2022 through a no-trust move.
It was filed after Khan made a blistering attack against the establishment of the country following a botched attempt by police to arrest him from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore in the Toshakhana case.
In his speech, the PTI chairman said that he had neither kneeled before any institution or person nor would let the nation do so.
Khan has been in the crosshairs for buying gifts, including an expensive Graff wristwatch he had received as the premier at a discounted price from the state depository called Toshakhana, and selling them for profit.
Khan also announced on Saturday that he will lead a PTI election rally in Lahore on Sunday as he criticised the authorities for “killing” his party worker.
“I will lead the election rally to show them that we are not domesticated animals,” Imran Khan told PTI workers in an address via video link.
It will be the first rally that Khan will lead in over four months, having largely mobilised party workers from home while recovering from a gunshot injury in the leg he got in November while leading a protest march in Islamabad.