Monday, an Islamabad district and sessions court upheld the non-bailable arrest warrants it issued last week for PTI Chairman Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case due to his persistent absences from the hearings.
Extra Meetings Judge Zafar Iqbal reported the decision saved before in the day in the wake of hearing the contentions on an application recorded by the PTI head looking for the scratch-off of his warrants.
Imran was issued non-bailable arrest warrants by the same court last week after he decided not to show up to the hearings of three other cases against him that had been filed in nearby local courts: terrorism, prohibited funding, and attempted murder.
With the court summons, an Islamabad police team was sent to Lahore on Sunday to arrest Imran. However, after the PTI chief evaded arrest, it returned empty-handed.
Imran then made a petition to the Islamabad sessions court, arguing that having the warrants revoked would give him “a fair opportunity to appear and defend himself” in the case.
The PTI leader is accused of omitting information about the gifts he kept from the Toshakhana, a place where gifts from foreign officials are kept for government officials. Gifts can legally be retained by officials if they pay a pre-assessed amount, typically a fraction of the gift’s value.
Court order ADSJ Iqbal stated in the today’s judgment, which Dawn.com can obtain a copy of, that Imran had not challenged the arrest warrants issued for him in any forum.
“After his appearances in various honorable courts, the accused was in a position to appear in this court on February 28, but he deliberately avoided doing so.
According to Section 75(2) of the Criminal Code, “a warrant shall remain enforced until it is cancelled by the court which issued it or until it is executed.” P.C.,” read the court order.
It stated that the warrant for Imran’s trial appearance had been issued, but noted that the PTI chief had not yet appeared in court.
“The accused has not yet surrendered before the court, and the [court] record] does not include an application for his personal appearance for today. The application is rejected because the accused has not appeared in court to ensure his future participation in the trial,” it added.
On behalf of the party leader, PTI lawyers Qaisar Imam, Ali Bukhari, and Barrister Gohar appeared at the hearing today.
Bukhari informed the court at the beginning of the hearing that his client wanted to be given a way to appear in court. He said the PTI boss had consistently executed court orders, adding that the police couldn’t confine him assuming he wished to show up under the steady gaze of the court.
The judge inquired of the PTI counsel, “You could have approached the Islamabad High Court for the cancellation of arrest warrants.”
The attorney replied that the team wanted to approach the sessions court to have the warrants cancelled.
Imran approaches LHC
Independently, Imran has additionally moved toward the Lahore High Court (LHC) for bail in three distinct cases relating to the Toshakhana reference, defacement at the Islamabad legal complex and brutality outside the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
Dawn.com, on the other hand, has learned that the LHC registrar has objected to Imran’s pleas, claiming that complete documents were not included with the petitions.
A new first information report (FIR) was filed against 150 people, including Imran, at Lahore’s Race Course Police Station on the complaint of Sub-Inspector Nadeem Tahir, the station house officer of Islamabad’s Secretariat Police Station, on Sunday at 7:50 p.m., according to new information today.
The case was filed under the Pakistan Penal Code’s Sections 148 (armed rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 172 (absconding to avoid summons), 173 (preventing service of summons), 174 (non-attendance in obedience to an order from a public servant), 186 (obstructing public servant in the performance of public functions), 212 (harbouring offender), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from performing his
According to the FIR, when an Islamabad police team went to Zaman Park a day ago to arrest Imran, a 100-150 person crowd with sticks and rods surrounded the team and threatened to kill them if they did.
In addition, the crowd stopped the police forcefully and pushed it around, despite the officers’ efforts to communicate with the public.
The complainant claimed that if the members of the crowd were shown to him, he could identify them.
He also stated that PTI Senator Shibli Faraz met the team and used delaying tactics to prevent them from completing their task.
Faraz “protected him from arrest by hiding the facts with ill intent,” according to the FIR, adding that Imran later held a live press conference from the site.
PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry stated in response to reports of the FIR that it brought the total number of cases against Imran to 75 and that a separate FIR had also been filed in Quetta.
Toshakhana case: The 70-year-old former prime minister has twice skipped indictment hearings in an Islamabad sessions court because he is recovering from a gunshot wound he received during an attempted assassination in Wazirabad last year.
Imran was scheduled to be charged in the Toshakhana Reference on February 28, but his attorney asked ADSJ Zafar Iqbal to let him skip the hearing because he had to appear in multiple other courts. His indictment had been postponed twice previously.
Following the issuance of arrest warrants for Imran, the judge postponed the hearing until March 7.
Legislators from the ruling coalition filed the reference last year, claiming that Imran had not disclosed the specifics of the gifts he retained from the Toshaskhana and the proceeds from their reported sales. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) came to the conclusion on October 21 that the former premier had in fact made “false statements and incorrect declarations” about the gifts.
The Toshakhana is a division of the Cabinet Division that stores gifts that foreign dignitaries and heads of other governments give to rulers and government officials. As indicated by Toshakhana rules, presents/presents and other such materials got by people to whom these principles apply will be accounted for to the Bureau Division.
According to the watchdog’s order, Imran was ineligible for the position under Article 63(1)(p) of the Constitution.
After that, with a copy of the reference, the ECP had approached the Islamabad sessions court to request criminal proceedings against Imran for allegedly misleading officials about the gifts he received from foreign dignitaries while he was prime minister.