IHC tells Imran to cooperate with police in terrorism case

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday ordered Imran Khan to join the police investigation in a terrorism case registered against him and remarked that if he does not cooperate then “law would take its own course”.

The IHC was hearing a petition filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) challenging the terrorism charges against the party chairman for making inappropriate comments against a woman judge and police officials.

The first information report (FIR) was lodged on the complaint of Islamabad Saddar Magistrate Ali Javed an hour after the event held in April and several sentences from Imran’s speech had been made part of it. It said that Imran Khan’s speech in this design and style was aimed at spawning fear and panic among the police authorities, the judiciary, and the public.

During the proceedings today, the court was informed by the attorney general Islamabad that the Investigating Officer (IO) was not granted access to Imran Khan, hindering the legal process despite having served the notice.

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“These are not some gentlemen standing before you, their uniforms are to be respected; they are symbols of the state,” remarked IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Minallah as he asked Imran to cooperate.

Imran’s counsel pleaded that three further offenses have been added to the FIR and that the case has been registered at the government's behest under false pretenses.

“We must have faith in the system of the state,” said CJ Minallah, “rule of law will be established when this is acted upon”.

Preventing the police from submitting a challan against Imran the court asked the police to submit an investigation report to the court. CJ Minallah also directed the IO to inform the court if terrorism charges are applicable or not.

The PTI chief’s lawyer Salman Safdar has assured the bench of Imran Khan’s cooperation as the division bench of the apex court adjourned the hearing until September 15.