Remarks on woman judge: Islamabad court changes Imran’s non-bailable arrest warrant into bailable one
- Dismisses request to extend suspension of arrest warrant till March 30
An Islamabad district and sessions court converted on Friday Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s non-bailable arrest warrant into a bailable one in a case over his remarks made against Additional Sessions Judge, Islamabad, Zeba Chaudhry.
However, the court dismissed his plea to extend the suspension of the non-bailable arrest warrant till March 30 as it announced the verdict today.
On March 13, Senior Civil Judge Rana Mujahid Rahim issued Imran’s non-bailable arrest warrant for continuously failing to appear before the court. The following day a district and sessions court in Islamabad suspended the warrant.
Later, on March 21, the same court extended the suspension of the warrants till March 24 (today).
Today, Additional Sessions Judge Faizan Haider heard the case, during which counsel Gohar Ali on behalf of Imran and prosecutor Rizwan Abbasi appeared before the court.
Imran’s counsel requested the court to extend the suspension till March 30, which is when Imran is meant to appear before the court for the Toshakhana case hearing.
“You are requesting March 30 while the order for arrest in the warrant is for March 29. The court can issue any verdict on March 29,” the judge said.
Background
Last year in August, a three-judge bench had issued a show cause notice to Imran over his remarks against the judge.
The federal capital police booked the former prime minister under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (punishment for acts of terrorism) regarding his comments.
The former PM has since expressed his “deep regret” over the remarks, saying that he will not “shy away from expressing his remorse to her”. He added that he had no intentions of threatening a female judge.
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