LAHORE: A police party from Islamabad has flown by helicopter to Lahore to arrest Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in the ‘judge threatening case’ after a district and sessions court on Monday issued his non-bailable arrest warrants for failing to appear before the court for today’s hearing.
Earlier, Civil Judge Rana Mujahid Rahim issued the three-page reserved verdict.
The court dismissed Imran Khan’s petition seeking exemption from attending the case hearing in person. The court ordered the police to produce Imran Khan by March 29.
Islamabad police team arrives to take Imran Khan in custody as he gears up to spearhead an election rally in a show of power with thousands of workers.
According to local media reports, the police said they would need a sizable backup to pick up Imran Khan and take him to Islamabad.
Imran Khan skips case hearing
The former prime minister once again skipped the hearing. Instead, he pleaded for an exemption from physically appearing before the judge, requesting permission to join the court proceedings virtually via video link.
During the hearing, a lawyer for Imran Khan, Intezar Haider Panjutha, said it was not safe for the PTI Chairman to come to Islamabad amid security threats against him. He informed the court that they had filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking permission to appear virtually before the courts.
Another member of Imran Khan’s legal team, Naeem Haider Panjutha, said a petition had been filed seeking exemption from attendance on behalf of the PTI Chief on security grounds.
The lawyer also requested to accept Imran Khan’s plea, mentioning “not appearing for some reasons and not willing to appear two different things.”
Earlier, the sessions court had rejected Imran Khan’s plea by saying, “if Imran Khan did not appear in court today, a non-bailable arrest warrant against him would be issued.
The judge said that if Imran Khan did not appear during court hours today (Monday), he would issue a non-bailable arrest warrant against the PTI Chairman.
