‘Appear by 5pm’; LHC gives last chance to Imran Khan

Lahore: The Lahore High Court (LHC) Monday adjourned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former Prime Minister Imran Khan's security bail application till 5:00 pm, terming it the 'last chance' to appear before it.  

The former Prime Minister was directed to appear before the court at 2 pm today on the notice taken by the bench of different signatures on his affidavit and power of attorney.

At today's hearing, which commenced at 2 PM, Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh questioned the whereabouts of Imran Khan, stating that it was already 2 o'clock. In response, Imran Khan's lawyers indicated that he was currently en route, but experiencing a delay due to a security issue.

Justice Tariq Saleem Shaikh announced that he was unable to resolve the security issue, and therefore postponed the hearing for a short period, requesting a reduction in the court's crowd.

When the hearing resumed, Khan's lawyer informed the court that the security bail application did not bear his client's signature.

The court, then, questioned how the former cricketer could withdraw an application that he did not file, emphasizing that it was not acceptable to adjourn the hearing repeatedly. 

Imran Khan's counsel then requested that the application be dismissed, but the court insisted that the hearing would continue. 

The court noted that the lawyer's behavior should have been apologetic and served him with a show cause notice to prepare a response.

Khan was summoned by the court when it convened last week and noticed the discrepancy in the petition he had filed.