By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday ordered police to drop terrorism charges against former prime minister Imran Khan for making threatening remarks against a female judge and senior police during a rally held last month.
The Court said Khan’s comments did not attract charges under the country’s ‘Anti-Terrorism’ Act, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and even capital punishment.
During a rally in August, Khan had threatened to file cases against top police officials, election commission and political opponents over the treatment meted out to his aide Shahbaz Gill, who was arrested on charges of sedition.
The ousted prime minister had also taken exception to additional district and sessions judge Zeba Chaudhry, who had approved Gill’s two-day physical remand at the request of the police, and said she should “prepare herself as action would be taken against her.”
Hours after the speech, Khan was booked under the Anti-Terrorism Act for threatening police, judiciary and other state institutions at his rally.
A two-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court Athar Minallah heard the case, in which Khan had already been granted interim bail till September 20.
Prosecutor Raja Rizwan Abbasi told the court the police investigation found that Khan’s remarks were ‘threatening’ and thus ‘terrorism’ charges were applicable on the opposition politician.
However, defence lawyer Salman Safdar argued that Khan’s statements were about taking legal action against the female judge and the police officials.
Now Khan does not have to appear in the ‘anti-terrorism’ court on Tuesday for a scheduled hearing in the case since the ‘terrorism’ charges are no longer applicable and matter will be transferred to the court with relevant jurisdiction.
The case against Imran Khan, however, will remain intact, that will now be tried in an ordinary court, instead an anti-terrorism court.
Earlier Khan expressed “deep regret” over his provocative remarks against a session judge but fell short of tendering an unconditional apology in contempt of court case.
Earlier this month, the Court gave the PTI chief another chance to submit a “well-considered” response in the contempt proceedings.
In his first written response, Khan had denied threatening the judge, offering to take his words back if they were “inappropriate.” In the supplementary reply, Khan stated that the remarks were “unintentional and not meant to be directed towards the lady judge for whom he has a lot of respect”.
Khan was removed from office earlier this year by a vote of no-confidence in parliament by the opposition Pakistan Democratic Alliance. Since then, he has held mass rallies across Pakistan pushing for new elections.
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
