No Relief For Imran Khan As Islamabad High Court Terms PTI Chief’s Arrest Legal

The Islamabad High Court on Tuesday termed former Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan’s arrest as “legal,” reported Geo News. The PTI chief was arrested outside IHC by Rangers on the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) warrant in the Al-Qadir Trust case. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had launched an investigation against Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi and others for the alleged gain of hundreds of canals of land in the name of Al Qadir University Trust, which reportedly caused a loss of 190 million pounds to the national exchequer.

As per the charges, the 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. Former PM Imran Khan had registered Trust for Al-Qadir University Project on Dec 26, 2019. Khan — who has been embroiled in dozens of cases pending since he was ousted last year — was arrested inside the premises of the high court when he appeared before the court in two cases.

His arrest follows months of political crisis and comes hours after the military rebuked the ex-international cricketer for alleging a senior officer had been involved in a plot to kill him. Earlier, Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Aamer Farooq on Tuesday reserved the verdict on former Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan’s arrest, reported Geo News.

IHC expressed displeasure over the law enforcement agencies for taking Imran Khan into custody from the court’s premises around 2:15 pm. Chief Justice Aamer Farooq said that if the PTI chief was arrested illegally, “he will have to be released,” reported Dawn. Islamabad High Court summoned the Director General and Prosecutor of the National Accountability Bureau after the former prime minister’s arrest from the high court premises.

Justice Farooq directed the govt to inform the court immediately who was behind the arrest and in what case has Imran been arrested in. Earlier in the day, the IHC had taken a notice of Imran’s arrest and directed the Islamabad police chief, the interior ministry secretary and the additional attorney general to appear before the court within 15 minutes, reported Dawn.

The IHC CJ said that he was showing “restraint” and warned that he would “summon” the prime minister if the Islamabad police chief did not appear before the court. “Come to court and tell us why Imran has been arrested and in which case,” Justice Farooq said. “We told you to appear in court within 15 minutes but you came after 45 minutes,” the IHC CJ observed, expressing anger at the delay.

Meanwhile, protests were reported in several cities across the country. The demonstrators burnt tyres and chanted slogans against the coalition government. Moreover, a water cannon was being used against protesters that had gathered outside Imran’s Zaman Park residence, reported Dawn. Police were put on high alert in Lahore. A statement issued by Lahore police said security across the city had been beefed up on the instructions of Lahore Deputy Inspector General (Operations) Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi.

In Karachi, both lanes of the Sharea Faisal were blocked after PTI MNAs and MPAs blocked the roads. Demonstrations were also reported at the main University Road, near the Old Sabzi Mandi, Banaras Chowk and Al-Asif Square. Separately, PTI’s Sindh chapter issued a protest call, asking supporters to gather outside the Insaf House at 4 pm. Demonstrations were also reported in Peshawar’s Hashtnagri and GT Road, Bannu, and Charsadda, reported Dawn.