A district and sessions court in Islamabad on Monday rejected a request from the prosecutor seeking arrest warrants for former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan for failing to appear personally in the case. Instead, the court granted Imran an exemption from appearing in the case.
During the hearing of a cases where Imran was accused of threatening a female judge of the Islamabad judiciary, Imran’s counsel Naeem Panjhota appeared before the court.
Panjhota argued that Imran’s current health following an assassination attempt late last year, does not allow him to travel to Islamabad. He added that his doctors had advised Imran to rest, therefore the court should exempt him from appearing before the court on medical grounds.
Prosecutor Rizwan Abbasi, meanwhile, objected to the exemption request. He argued that Imran Khan was seeking exemption from appearing before the court by attaching medical reports from the Shaukat Khanum Hospital – a cancer hospital that he owns, while his ailment was of a different nature.
The prosecutor further argued that per Imran Khan’s admission, he was suffering from a fracture, and that now, only inflammation was left. Moreover, he noted that the court did not ask Imran to climb the stairs up to the court room. If he even walks to outside the court building, his presence will be counted.
He also requested to cancel Imran’s surety bonds and issue an arrest warrant against him.
After hearing all arguments, the court dismissed the prosecutor’s plea and accepted a request from Imran’s counsel for exemption from personal appearance before the court on medical grounds.
Later, the session court adjourned further hearings until March 9.
On August 2022, former prime minister Imran Khan had, from the pulpit of his protest container, issued controversial remarks against Additional and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry and a case was lodged against him in the Margalla police station.
