On Monday, a district and sessions court in Islamabad rejected Imran Khan’s plea to suspend the non-bailable arrest warrant issued against him in the Toshakhana case. The announcement of the verdict was made by Additional Session judge Zafar Iqbal, who had reserved it earlier in the day after a brief hearing of the case. During the hearing, Khan’s lawyers Ali Bukhari, Qaiser Imam, and Gohar Ali Khan appeared before the court, with Bukhari contending that his client has always followed court orders. Meanwhile, Imam argued that the police cannot arrest Imran Khan if he is willing to appear before the court. However, the judge remarked that the PTI chief could have approached the Islamabad High Court for the suspension of the warrant.
In response, Imam told the judge that they wanted the sessions court to suspend the warrant, while Bukhari added that Imran Khan was currently at his Zaman Park residence in Lahore. Imam argued that a private complaint was registered against the PTI chief under the Election Act 2017, and that usually, arrest warrants are not issued on a private complaint. He urged the court to suspend the warrant, but the judge noted that the PTI chief’s lawyer had informed them that their client would not appear in court. The judge reserved the verdict on the petition.
On February 28, Additional Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Imran Khan for continuously failing to appear before the court in the Toshakhana case. Following this, on Sunday, an Islamabad police team, led by a superintendent of police, visited Zaman Park to implement the arrest warrant, but they failed to do so. The PTI chief has also approached the Lahore High Court today for post-arrest bail in the case.