The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) on Thursday directs concerned authorities to present former prime minister Imran Khan before the court within an hour.
According to details, Three member bench of Supreme Court directed the Inspector General (IG) Islamabad Police Dr Akbar Nasir Khan to present Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in court by 4:30pm.
The orders were passed by the SC while hearing a plea of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) petition challenging the arrest of former prime minister and party chief Imran Khan by NAB.
In today’s hearing, Ex- premier’s lawyer Hamid Khan informed the court that Imran Khan had come to IHC in order to secure an extension in his interim bail. When the PTI chief was getting his verification done, Rangers personnel broke into the room.
“Rangers misbehaved with Imran Khan and arrested him,” he added.
At this, CJP Bandial inquired about the case in which Imran Khan was seeking the bail extension.
On this point, Justice Athar Minallah inquired if a plea can be filed before the bio-metric verification is conducted.
At this, the lawyer said that Imran Khan went for Bio-metric verification because a plea cannot be filed before that.
“Why did NAB take the law in its hand? It would have been better for NAB to seek permission from IHC registrar,” Justice Minallah asked.
He said that every citizen has the right to get justice and the apex court had to ensure its provision. The judge also regretted the current situation in the country.
“Where did the sanctity of the court go with the arrest from the court premises,” CJP Bandial remarked.
Meanwhile, the CJP asked the number of personnel who arrested Imran Khan.
At this, Imran Khan’s lawyer Salman Safdar informed the court that 80-100 men were there to arrest the PTI chief.
“What was left of the honour of the court when 90 people entered the court premises. NAB has disrespected the court,” CJP Bandial said, adding that no one would feel safe inside a court anymore.
“No one can be arrested from the high court, Supreme Court or accountability court. Imran Khan’s arrest violated the judicial sanctity,” he added.
Contempt of court proceedings were carried out in the past over vandalism in the court against lawyers in the past, the CJP remarked.
He remarked that permission should be taken from the Registrar IHC before arrest from the court premises.
The top judge remarked NAB disgraced the judiciary by arresting Imran Khan from the court premises.
Top Judge said National Accountability Bureau (NAB) committed such unlawful acts in the past too after which officials apologized and assured him the same thing will not happen again, but it was repeated again.
Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial observed everyone should feel protected on the court premises. We will restore the prestige of the court. Contempt of court will not be tolerated, we will issue an order in the case today, the CJP remarked.
Justice Athar Minallah in his remarks said NAB has been doing such acts for many years. NAB had been arresting elected representatives with disgrace.
This is not the way to respect the court, Justice Minallah added. NAB has not learned any lessons from the past.
After hearing arguments, Supreme court orders IG Islamabad and relative authorities to present Imran khan in court within an hour.
PTI filed Plea in SC
The PTI had filed a petition in the Supreme Court, challenging the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) decision calling party chief Imran Khan’s arrest by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) “legal”.
Terming the judgment ‘full of flaws’, Imran Khan termed the arrest warrants issued by the NAB ‘illegal’ and added that he did not receive notice of transforming the inquiry into the investigation.
The amount which is being termed as corruption by the NAB is already deposited into the Supreme Court’s account and the government can transfer it anywhere it wants from there, the plea stated.
High Court terms Khan’s Arrest Legal
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has termed the arrest of former premier and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan ‘legal’ in the Al-Qadir Trust case.
IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq — who had raised questions over the Rangers’ move to arrest Khan from the court’s premises earlier in the day — announced the reserved verdict.
The IHC also issued notices to the Islamabad inspector general of Islamabad police and the interior secretary over contempt of court.
The chief justice ordered the high court registrar to get a first information report (FIR) registered over the circumstances of the arrest, which included manhandling the lawyers present nearby as well as damage to the court building.
The NAB officials said that they wrote a letter to the interior ministry for the PTI chief’s arrest. The IHC CJ remarked that nobody is above the law. He added lawyers sustained wounds due to the chaos in the high court.
He also instructed the registrar to conduct an inquiry and submit a report by 16th May.
Imran Khan Arrest
Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan arrested by NAB and taken into custody by Rangers from the premises of Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the Al-Qadir Trust Case.
The PTI chief was taken into custody in the Al-Qadir Trust case by Rangers from Islamabad High Court where the former premier had gone to seek bail in multiple FIRs registered against him. The former prime minister was taken in black Vigo and shifted to NAB office Rawalpindi by the law enforcement agency.
According to reports, the PTI chairman was going for biometric at the IHC when he was taken into custody. The NAB officials had arrest warrants.
Al-Qadir Trust case
The Ex-Premier, along with his wife Bushra Bibi and other PTI leaders, are facing a NAB inquiry related to a settlement between the PTI government and a property tycoon, which reportedly caused a loss of 190 million pounds to the national exchequer.
As per the charges, the Imran Khan and others accused allegedly adjusted Rs50 billion — 190 million pounds at the time — sent by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to the government.
They are also accused of getting undue benefit in the form of over 458 kanals of land at Mouza Bakrala, Sohawa, to establish Al Qadir University.
