ISLAMABAD: A local court on Saturday issued arrest warrants for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief and former premier Imran Khan in a case pertaining to using controversial remarks against Additional Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry and two top police officers of Islamabad police.
Khan’s arrest warrants were issued by Senior Civil Judge Rana Mujahid Rahim who directed the Station House Officer (SHO) of Margalla Police Station to implement the orders. However, till the filing of this report police have not taken any step to implement the arrest warrants.
According to a statement issued by the police, the issuance of arrest warrants is a legal process. Imran Khan did not appear in court on the previous appearance. Arrest warrants have been issued to ensure his court appearance before the court.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) had issued an order for the removal of 7ATA from the case and after this order, the case was transferred to the session’s court. Imran Khan has yet not obtained bail from the session’s court, it said, adding that he will be arrested if he failed to appear before the court.
However, following the issuance of the arrest warrant PTI’s workers reached the Bani Gala residence of the former premier to resist the arrest of their party chairman. They staged a protest outside Bani Gala.
The court issued arrest warrants against the PTI chief in the case registered on August 20 over his threatening remarks regarding Additional District and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry.
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The First Information Report (FIR) was registered under Sections 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 189 (threat of injury to public servant), and 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) under Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
The arrest warrants come after PTI chief submitted the affidavit in the contempt of court case against him for threatening Additional District and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry.
In his affidavit, Imran Khan vowed to comply with the statement given on September 22 before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the last hearing. “I am ready to apologise if the judges think I had crossed the red line,” he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022