LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said on Friday that the division among the top court judges would be a tragedy for Pakistan.
Talking to journalists ahead of securing protective bail from the Lahore High Court (LHC) in a case pertaining to allegations against top officers of state institutions and inciting mutiny and putting the families of army officers at risk, he said he had nothing to do with the division in the Supreme Court but wanted the conduct of the general election within the constitutional limits of 90 days.
He said no judge should oppose the constitutional mandate for the election. He said the right to vote was a fundamental right of the citizens. He alleged that at least 3000 workers of his party were in police custody as a new FIR was registered every other day. He said the supremacy of the Constitution was critical for the survival of the country.
Imran Khan said differences among the judges of Supreme Court have deepened on the verdict in election postponement case. While criticizing the government for allegedly running away from election and not caring about the Constitution, he said: “Unless you do not save the Constitution, you cannot save the country”.
To a question, he said, “Whoever is saying that Imran tried to divide the army, there would be no bigger idiot in the world than him.”
Earlier on a court’s query, Imran’s counsel said that his client was on his way to the court. Justice Baqar Ali Najafi asked the counsel to ensure his client’s presence within 10 minutes; otherwise, he will adjourn the proceedings for Friday prayers. Imran Khan; however, failed to reach the court in time and had to wait for about an hour as Justice Najafi rose for the interval.
After resuming the hearing, the judge asked the counsel to read the contents of FIR aloud. The court asked him if his client wanted to appear in the relevant court in Islamabad.
The counsel responded in the affirmative and said the FIR was politically-motivated and it was lodged in violation of the laws. He said, “We are leaving for Islamabad on April 18 and we want to surrender before the concerned court.” But his client has apprehension that police will arrest him, the counsel added. The counsel then requested the court to grant his client protective bail.
The court accepted the request and granted the PTI chief protective bail till April 26.
The deposed prime minister said that a series of false criminal cases have been registered against him, the senior leadership of PTI and active workers since past few months. He; therefore, prayed the court for protective bail enabling him to approach the concerned court in Islamabad.
The complaint was lodged by Magistrate Manzoor Ahmed. The FIR registered under sections 138, 500 and 505 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) alleged that Imran provoked extremists and put the lives of the family members of a senior officer under threat.
On April 10, the former premier approached the Islamabad High Court, requesting to quash the mutiny case against him at Ramna Station. The hearing was indefinitely adjourned on April 12 after the IHC summoned magistrate, asking him to submit a response.
Imran’s counsel had raised an objection on the jurisdiction that the incident had occurred in Lahore but the FIR was filed in Islamabad.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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