A district and sessions court in Islamabad suspended on Tuesday the non-bailable arrest warrant for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan issued on Monday in a case related to using threatening language against additional sessions Judge, Islamabad, Zeba Chaudhry, Aaj News reported.

The court barred the police from arresting the former prime minister till March 16.

Remarks on woman judge: Islamabad court issues non-bailable arrest warrant against Imran

On Monday, Senior Civil Judge Rana Mujahid Rahim said the court issued an arrest warrant for the PTI leader due to his continuous absence and rejected his plea seeking to exempt him from personal appearance before the court.

The court had also directed to produce the PTI chief before it on March 29.

The judge said that the court will hear arguments on Imran’s petition seeking to be dismissed from the case in the next proceedings.

Last year in August, a three-judge bench had issued a show cause notice to Imran over his remarks against the judge.

The federal capital police booked the former prime minister under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (punishment for acts of terrorism) regarding his comments.

Earlier, the former PM had expressed his “deep regret“ over remarks made against Judge Zeba, saying that he will not “shy away from expressing his remorse to her”. The former PM said that he had no intentions of threatening a female judge.

Imran expressed his gratitude to the high court for providing him an opportunity to reflect upon the issue and its significance. He added that he had great regard for the lower judiciary and that he supported women’s rights in Pakistan.