ISLAMABAD -
The Islamabad High Court today, Tuesday, suspended the arrest warrant for former Prime Minister and leader of the "Insaf" party Imran Khan until March 13, in connection with the "Toshakhana" (gift box) case, while the Election Commission of Pakistan issued arrest warrants for him. On bail in another case related to "insulting statements" against the head of the Elections Commission, and asked him to appear before it on the 14th of the same month.
In the first case, Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court Aamir Farooq announced the suspension of Imran Khan's arrest after he was taken into custody earlier today, according to Pakistani media.
The court decision stipulates that Khan must appear before the same court that issued the arrest warrant against him on March 13.
A local court in the capital, Islamabad, had issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Imran Khan on February 28, due to repeated absence from the hearings in the Tushakhana case, where Khan was absent from the hearings 3 times.
Last Sunday, the Islamabad police tried to arrest Imran Khan from the city of Lahore in the Punjab province (east), but were unable to do so because supporters and members of the Insaf Party gathered in front of his residence.
Khan tried to obtain a waiver from the arrest on Monday from the local court, but the judge rejected Khan's request, and the court upheld the arrest warrant again.
insulting remarks
In exchange for the suspension of detention by the previous Supreme Court order, the Election Commission of Pakistan today, Tuesday, issued bail warrants for Khan, the leader of the PTI and former Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry in the case of "insulting statements" against the head of the Election Commission, and the commission asked them to appear before it on March 14. This March, according to Pakistani media.
The Election Commission had earlier initiated proceedings against Khan and Chaudhry to issue statements against the commission and its chairman, and during a hearing in this case neither Khan nor Chaudhry attended the hearing, and the matter was repeated today, Tuesday, prompting the commission to issue the arrest warrant.
The commission said Imran Khan "deliberately did not appear before the commission and flouted the law, which is intolerable behaviour".
It stated that Khan did not appear in person at the last session nor did any of his lawyers appear on his behalf, and that there was no other option in this case but to issue an arrest warrant against him.
The committee ordered Khan to post a bail of 50,000 rupees ($180), and bail orders must be executed through the Inspector General of Police in Islamabad.