Imran Khan’s request to have the non-bailable arrest warrant issued against him in the Toshakhana case suspended was denied by an Islamabad district and sessions court on Monday.
The court had deferred its decision on the case’s outcome earlier in the day. Lawyers Qaiser Imam, Gohar, and Ali Bukhari submitted a plea on behalf of the ousted prime minister in the court of Additional Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal.
Bukhari argued that his client had consistently complied with court instructions. Imam countered that the police cannot detain Imran Khan if he is eager to appear.
The court then commented that the PTI leader may have requested the cancellation of the warrant by contacting the Islamabad High Court.
Imam had argued during the hearing that since the issuing of a warrant in a case involving a private complaint had been “somewhat prohibited,” the court needed to revoke Imran’s arrest order.
Judge Iqbal had argued in his remarks that Imran’s attorneys had informed them that day, February 28, that their client would not be appearing in court.
In accordance with court orders, an Islamabad Police squad led by a superintendent of police visited Zaman Park on Sunday to carry out the arrest warrant but could not arrest him.
The PTI leader has also applied for post-arrest bail in the matter before the Lahore High Court today.
The erstwhile ruling party has made the decision to request that the Imran arrest warrants be revoked by the Islamabad High Court (IHC). Once PTI attorneys have a copy of the session court’s detailed decision, they will file a petition with the high court.
The PTI leader arrived at Islamabad’s judicial complex on February 28 with members of his party to defend himself against charges of terrorism and illegal finance.
The former prime minister Imran Khan has three times avoided the indictment proceedings in the case at an Islamabad sessions court, despite the fact that he is still healing from a gunshot wound sustained in a failed assassination attempt in Wazirabad last year.
On February 28, Imran was scheduled to be indicted in the Toshakhana Reference, but his attorney had asked ADSJ Zafar Iqbal to excuse him from the hearing because he had to show up in numerous other courts. His charges were twice postponed.
