ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday suspended till March 13 the non-bailable arrest warrant against Pakistan’s ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan for his failure to appear before a sessions court here for the fourth time in the Toshakhana case.
The IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, announcing the verdict that he reserved earlier in the day, directed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief to appear before the district and sessions court on March 13, rejecting a plea by Khan’s lawyer to give four weeks for appearance before the court in the case.
Khan, 70, has been in the crosshairs for buying gifts, including an expensive Graff wristwatch he had received as the premier at a discounted price from the state depository called Toshakhana, and selling them for profit.
Khan on Tuesday for the fourth time skipped a hearing at the sessions court, citing health and security reasons. The former premier’s counsel Sher Afzal Marwat, who appeared before the court, said Khan was unwell and “disabled” after being injured in the Wazirabad attack.
Marwat said a “global spectacle” was created regarding the PTI chief, whose party on Monday challenged in the IHC the arrest warrant issued against him for not appearing before the court.
Requesting the court to give a date next week for hearing the matter, Marwat maintained that he would provide the power of attorney within “a day or two”.
Taking to Twitter on Tuesday, Khan slammed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government and said it was behind a total of 76 legal cases – so far – raised against him.
“This is what happens when a bunch of criminals is imposed on a nation by those who are devoid of intelligence, morality, and ethics,” he tweeted.
The PTI chief on Monday moved the IHC against the non-bailable arrest warrant ordered by the Islamabad sessions court in the Toshakhana case.
His lawyer Ali Bukhari in the petition before the IHC requested a cancellation of the warrant, arguing that it was “illegal” to issue a non-bailable warrant.
Khan was ousted from power in April after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China, and Afghanistan.
Khan, who came to power in 2018, is the only Pakistani Prime Minister to be ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament.