In a major relief for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Chairman Imran Khan’s arrest has been declared “illegal” by the Supreme Court. The order came shortly after the PTI chief was presented in court.
The SC had directed the authorities to present Khan — who was ousted as the prime minister last year in April — at 4:30pm, but he was produced at around 5:40pm, more than an hour later.
He was brought in a convoy of 15 vehicles.
The directives to present Khan in the court came after Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial termed the PTI leader’s arrest from the premises of Islamabad High Court (IHC) as a mighty disgrace to the country’s judicial establishment.
The CJP passed the remark while heading a three-member bench hearing PTI’s petition challenging Khan’s arrest. Apart from the CJP, the bench also includes Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar.
At the outset of the hearing, the former premier’s lawyer Hamid Khan informed the court that 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 Khan was seeking the bail extension.
Justice Minallah inquired if a plea can be filed before the biometric verification is conducted.
At this, the lawyer said that Khan went for biometric 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 the IHC registrar,” Justice Minallah asked.
– Source GeoTv
