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Islamabad High Court stops police from arresting ex-Pak PM Imran Khan in Toshakhana case

by Trans World Features | @twfindia 17 Mar 2023, 09:17 am

Islamabad/IBNS/UNI: The Islamabad High Court's (IHC) Registrar's Office Friday raised objections against former Pakistan Prime Minister and Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan's petition challenging his arrest warrants in the Toshakhana case.

According to the registrar's office, the PTI chief's biometric verification is not available. "How can the high court hear the same matter on which it has already made its decision?" the office also questioned.

However, the court decided to take up Khan's plea with the RO's objections. IHC Justice Aamer Farooq will conduct the hearing after some time today, according to Geo news.

Earlier in the day, the former prime minister challenged the Islamabad court's decision of rejecting his plea seeking suspension of his arrest warrants issued against him in the Toshakhana gifts case.

Khan, who is holed up in his Zaman Park residence in Lahore in defiance of the court order that had directed him to appear before it, filed the plea through his lawyer Khawaja Haris.

In his petition, the PTI chairman requested: "The undertaking should be accepted and the police should be stopped from arresting."

The PTI chief also assured the court of his appearance before the Islamabad court on Saturday, requesting the court to hear his plea urgently.

Meanwhile, hundreds of PTI supporters shielded Khan's home on Friday to thwart his arrest as the former prime minister waited to hear a ruling on whether security forces could again come after him for failing to attend the hearing in court.

Ahead of the court decision, a tense calm prevailed in Lahore Zaman Park which earlier this week was the scene of hostilities between PTI workers and Punjab Police that were advancing on Khan’s house to produce him before the court in a case in which he is accused of selling state gifts given to him by foreign dignitaries without due legal process, while he was prime minister.