By Staff Reporter
LAHORE: Islamabad police on Sunday reached Lahore residence of ousted prime minister Imran Khan to arrest him in charges of misusing his office to sell state gifts, but returned after assurance from his legal team that he will appear before the court on March 7.
“A team of Islamabad police has arrived in Lahore to arrest Imran Khan to comply with the court orders,” Islamabad police said in a tweet.
“Imran Khan is reluctant to surrender — the superintendent of police had gone into the room but Imran Khan was not present there.”
On February 28, an Islamabad sessions court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Khan for avoiding hearings in connection with the illegal purchase and sale of gifts received from foreign dignitaries when he was prime minister.
Khan has denied the charges.
Khan, the old cricketer-turned-politician, is in the crosshairs for buying gifts, including an expensive Graff wristwatch he had received as prime minister at a discounted price from the state depository and selling them for profit.
On October 21 last year, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said the Pakistan PTI chief made “false statements and incorrect declarations” regarding these gifts.
A reference was subsequently filed against Khan by the ECP for making “false statements and incorrect declaration” in the Toshakhana issue.
According to the ECP records, the gifts were purchased from the Toshakhana — the state depository established in 1974 — for Rs21.5 million on the basis of their assessed value, while they were valued at around Rs108 million.
According to law, overseas presents need to be deposited in the Toshakhana or treasury for valuation before allowing a recipient to keep it. Officials in the government are required to report any gifts they receive, but they have a threshold below which they don’t have to disclose the full value.
The vice chairman of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Party, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, told reporters that the party has received the notice from Islamabad police — the notice does not contain any order for the arrest.
“We are a political party, we will react politically. We will strategise. Imran Khan’s life is at risk. He has already suffered an attack, and we fear there’s another attack planned. We have to protect him from it.”
“We will consult our lawyers and follow the legal process,” Qureshi said.
During a public event on Sunday, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said the police went to serve the warrant and would subsequently update the court.
Television channels showed Khan’s home in Lahore was surrounded by hundreds of his supporters. Police officials were seen outside the entrance of Khan’s residence.
The workers had gathered there on the call of PTI leaders, who also warned of country-wide protests if Khan was arrested.
Later, Khan demanded a public trial of the Toshakhana case before the crowd gathered at his residence in Lahore
Addressing the crowd of party loyalists, Khan said he had never “bowed before any man or institution, and will never let you do so as well”.
Khan claimed that another plan to assassinate him had been hatched. “I went to Lahore and Islamabad high court and there was no security,” he said, adding that his legal team would write to the chief justice of Pakistan to take notice of the matter.
“It seems as though the ones who should be responsible to provide safety are the real danger.”
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) on Sunday barred TV channels from broadcasting the speeches, press conferences, and statements of PTI chief Khan.
In its order issued to all state-run and private TV channels, the media regulatory body said that Imran Khan’s live and recorded speeches, statements and talks have been banned under Section 27 of the PEMRA Ordinance. It said that strict action would be taken against TV channels found disobeying the order.
PEMRA said that the PTI chairman has been making false accusations against state institutions in his speeches, “which is prejudiced to the maintenance of law and order and is likely to disturb public peace and tranquility.”
Khan has been seeking snap polls in the country since he was ousted from power in a no confidence vote in April last year.
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