PTI chairman Imran Khan. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
ATC-II Judge Shahrukh Arjumand gave the PTI chairman until December 7 to visit to the police station and appear before the investigation officers to record his statement.
There were some interesting exchanges between the judge and an investigation officer during the hearing on Friday. The judge, at one point, inquired an investigation officer as to when he would record Khan’s statement.
“Whenever the suspect says,” replied the officer.
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The judge smiled and reminded him that he was the investigation officer and it was for him to inform the accused when he should appear before him. The judge then directed him to record statement before the next hearing.
The confusion on the part of the officer was created perhaps because of a single-line statement made before the court by Khan, the PTI chief. “I am the most-wanted terrorist,” Khan said, sarcastically, appearing before the court.
The directions for joining the police investigation came after a state counsel informed the court that the accused had sent his statement on a piece of paper and it could not be considered as joining the investigation. He insisted that appearance before the police is essential so that questions could be asked.
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Khan’s counsel Babar Awan said his client would record his statement in the police station. He requested the court to adjourn the case for a longer period but the court turned down his request and fixed December 4 as the next date of hearing.
However, Awan requested the court to change the date because Khan would be holding a rally on that day. Subsequently, the court changed the date and fixed December 7 as the next date of hearing.
Talking to the media after the hearing, Khan said that comparing him with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif would be an insult to him. “Comparing me with him [Sharif] is like comparing me with Sultana Daku,” he said. “Nawaz Sharif is attacking the government, the military and other institutions. We need to strengthen those institutions first.”
The PTI chief said that his sit-in was political, solely because of “rigging in the 2013 elections”.
Khan has appeared before the ATC on November 14 to get pre-arrest bail in the four cases. His bail application was approved that day with directions for him to “join the police investigation today [November 14].”
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Along with Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Tahirul Qadri and several others, Khan was booked for their alleged involvement in an attack on SSP Junejo, who was brutally beaten by the protesters on the Constitution Avenue. The incident took place on September 1, 2014, less than 24 hours into Junejo’s first day on duty as SSP operations.
In the SSP Junejo case, the Islamabad administration had informed the court on October 13 that the land measuring 300 kanals in Bani Gala was purchased by the PTI chairman in the name of his first wife through a “Benami transaction”.
In the PTV and Parliament attack cases, leaders and over a hundred workers and supporters of the PTI and the PAT were booked. The workers, who were arrested during the sit-ins, have been released on bail.
On August 31, 2014, in an attempt to topple the PML-N government, the PTI and the PAT workers marched on the Parliament building and the Prime Minister House, while clashing with the police along the way. At least three protesters died and hundreds of protesters and policemen were injured.
On September 1, 2014, hundreds of men, allegedly protesters from the PTI and PAT camps, ransacked the PTV office and the Parliament premises. Court officials revealed that Khan and Qadri were also booked in a case for violating the Loudspeaker Act during the sit-in.
The sit-in ended in the wake of the Peshawar school massacre in December 2014.
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