Islamabad court issues non-bailalbe arrest warrants for Imran Khan in Thoshakhana case

Islamabad: A district and sessions court on Monday issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in Thoshakhana case.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal passed the order in Thoshakhana reference after the PTI Chief failed to turn up before it.

The judge directed the police produce Imran Khan before the court on March 18.

The development took place at the moment when PTI led by its chairman Imran Khan took out election rally from Zaman Park to Data Darbar.

On Sunday, Imran Khan had postponed his party rally for Monday (today) after the local administration refused to remove Section 144.

Talking to GNN Bureau Chief Shahzad Hussain Butt, PTI leader Musarrat Jamshed Cheema had said that Imran Khan would lead the rally in Lahore and he would not appear before the court in Islamabad on Monday (tomorrow).

The reports had suggested that Imran Khan could be taken into custody if he failed to turn up  before the court in Islamabad.

Last week, The Islamabad High Court had suspended the non-bailable arrest warrants of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan issued by a district and sessions court in the Toshakhana reference till March 13.

A single bench of Chief Justice Aamer Farooq heard Imran Khan’s petition challenging the issuance of his non-bailable arrest warrants by Additional Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal in the Toshakhana case and accepted the same, directing the PTI chairman to ensure that he appears before the lower court on March 13.

The chief justice late in the evening announced its reserved verdict.

The sessions court was all set to frame charges against Imran Khan in Toshakhana reference on February 28 but his lawyer had asked the judge that he be exempted from the hearing because he had to appear in several other courts. His indictment was deferred twice before. Then, the judge had issued arrest warrants for Imran and adjourned the hearing till March 7. However, the warrants were later challenged before the IHC.