Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD: Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan is currently facing a whopping number of 36 cases pending against him in various courts of Lahore, Islamabad, and in the Election Commission of Pakistan.
The cases range from disqualification, pre-arrest bail, criminal proceedings to protective bail and defamation cases. One of the cases pertains to terrorism as well while the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief is yet to be granted pre-arrest bail in that case, Express Tribune reported on Sunday. So, as bail pleas are pending in two cases, Imran can be arrested if turned down any of them.
According to the details available with The Express Tribune, most of the cases were registered in Islamabad. As many as 25 of these cases are pending in the sessions court of Islamabad. Except for the two cases, Imran is on bail in all the other cases.
A case in which PML-N’s Barrister Mohsin Shah Nawaz Ranjha is the complainant, was registered at the Secretariat police station here in the wake of protests after the Tosha Khana verdict. In this case, Imran Khan’s pre-arrest bail application is pending with the court, which is scheduled for hearing on February 27 (tomorrow).
The second case is a private complaint lodged by the ECP, in which it filed a request for criminal action against Imran Khan for submitting a false affidavit in the Tosha Khana reference. Additional Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal has summoned Imran Khan in personal capacity on February 28. Khan’s indictment is likely the same day, while Imran Khan’s lawyers are likely to challenge the court’s jurisdiction.
Among the remaining 23 cases pending in the session courts in Islamabad, some were registered at different police stations in the wake of protests on May 25 and 26 in 2002. Other cases were registered in the context of protest rallies in August last year and for violating Section 144 of the Cr.PC. The case of issuing threatening statement against Additional Sessions Judge Islamabad, Zeba Chaudhry is also among these cases.
Some of the cases were registered after the Tosha Khana verdict in October 2022. Two cases of 2014 – attack on the PTV and the parliament – are also among the cases. In all these 23 cases, Imran Khan is on bail and the trial is pending.
The PTI chairman is on pre-arrest bail in a case registered under the Foreign Exchange Act in the context of prohibited funding. The court had ordered him to ensure his attendance on February 28 otherwise, there is a possibility that the bail will be rejected. The bail to the co-accused in this case has already been granted.
In addition to this, the special anti-terrorism court (ATC) rejected Imran’s pre-arrest bail plea in the terrorism case registered at Sangjani police station here in the context of the Tosha Khana decision, after his failure to appear before the court. After that, Imran secured a protective bail from the Lahore High Court in the same case until March 3.
It is likely that if the PTI chairman appears in the banking court on February 28, he will also seek a pre-arrest bail from the Anti-Terrorism Court.
Three cases are pending before the Islamabad High Court including a disqualification case against Imran Khan. In this case, Khan is accused of not declaring his alleged daughter, Tyrian White in the 2018 general elections nomination papers. The second is against the ECP’s decision in the Tosha Khana reference. Also, in the Election Commission of Pakistan, a case for Imran’s removal as the party head in the context of the Tosha Khana decision, is also pending. While the third pending case is a show-cause notice in the prohibited funding case.
PTI’s stance
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf propagates these cases as registered for political reasons.
