ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice (CJ) Islamabad High Court (IHC) Aamer Farooq on Wednesday asked Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief Imran Khan to appear in the court today (Wednesday) after expressing his dissatisfaction over the former prime minister’s persistent absence in several cases.
Hearing Imran’s plea for interim bail in a case involving murder attempt filed by PML-N MNA Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha in 2022, the IHC Chief Justice said, “If the petitioner [Imran Khan] doesn’t appear during the court timings [today], will dismiss the interim bail.” The judge further said that the former prime minister “has made a joke out of the courts”. The court then called a break in the hearing till Imran appeared in the court.
Ranjha, on October 23, 2022, had lodged a criminal complaint stating that the shot fired by a Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa policeman outside the ECP on Constitution Avenue on October 21, 2022 was “an attempt on his life” allegedly at the behest of Imran Khan. The disqualification of Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case had sparked protests in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, resulting in the arrest of three persons — a PTI legislator and his two police guards.
The clash between the police and protesters had started outside the ECP soon after the electoral body disqualified Imran Khan and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police guard of MNA Saleh Mohammad fired a gunshot. On April 18, the court extended Imran’s bail in the eight cases — including those pertaining to violence outside the Federal Judicial Complex in Islamabad — till May 3.
