Exemption from court appearance: Imran ‘enjoys’, Sharifs ‘suffer’

In two months, the PTI chief awarded exemptions while the Sharif family denied the same by two different courts

ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court on Tuesday accepted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s one-day exemption plea in the 2014 parliament and Pakistan Television (PTV) attack cases, days after a similar request by deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz was turned down.

ATC Judge Shahrukh Arjumand accepted the PTI chief’s request submitted through his counsel Shahid Naseem Gondal advocate that his client could not appear before the court as he was scheduled to travel outside the city and fixed the next hearing for April 10.

An order of the court stated, “An application submitted for exemption of accused on the pretext that he is out of city. The ground so stated seems genuine; therefore, accused is exempted for only one day.”



The terrorism charges against Imran were registered when hundreds of protesters allegedly belonging to the PTI and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) seized state broadcaster PTV in September 2014, a month after they marched on parliament and the PM House, clashing with policemen along the way.

An FIR was lodged followed by a complaint by Secretariat Police Station House Officer Inspector Mehboob Ahmed, who in his application, stated, “Protesters attacked the government building after snatching weapons from police officials.”

The 2014 dharna was first called off by PAT chief Tahirul Qadri as he opted for dialogue with the government in October 2014. However, the PTI continued occupying D-Chowk until the deadly Army Public School attack in Peshawar in December 2014, which compelled the PTI to end the sit-in. In the APS attack, over 130 people, mostly children, were killed.

On the other hand, the Sharif family is facing corruption references in the accountability court. The references related to Flagship Investments, Avenfield Apartments, Al Azizia and Hill Metal Establishment were filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) following the Supreme Court’s July 28, 2017 verdict in the Panamagate case.

The Supreme Court had disqualified Sharif as prime minister in a landmark judgment in the Panama Papers case.

While this is the second time in two months that Imran’s exemption plea has been approved by the ATC, the Sharif family’s exemption requests have been dismissed twice in the same time period.



“The favourite [Imran Khan] one has received justice through the backdoor,” claimed State Minister for Information and Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) leader Marriyum Aurangzeb. “His exemption was accepted despite terrorism sections imposed on the favourite in the SSP torture case.”

Referring to the father-daughter duo’s application to travel to London to make medical decisions following Kulsoom Nawaz’s cancer relapse, Aurangzeb further stated that those who were appearing before the court in accordance with the law and Constitution were not being granted exemption.

“The husband and daughter want to visit ailing Kulsoom but are not being permitted,” she added.