Court accepts lawyer's request to consult Imran over security proposal

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday accepted the request of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan’s lawyer for consulting the former premier on whether CCPO Lahore Bilal Siddique Kamyana is acceptable as the focal person on his security or not.

Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh presided over the hearing of a petition wherein the PTI chief sought “foolproof security and permission to mark his attendance into court’s proceedings through video link”.

Justice Sheikh accepted the request of the PTI’s lawyer of consultation with the party chief and fixed March 15 for the next hearing.

At the onset of the proceeding, the law officer told the court that complete security has been provided to the petitioner.

To this, advocate Azhar Siddique opposed the law officer’s argument and remarked that “everyone has observed how many security personnel were given to the ousted premier when he appeared before the court”.

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“There are two types of security. One is deputed at IK’s residence and the second moves with him," the law officer told the court.

During the hearing, Justice Sheikh remarked that CCPO Kamyana could be nominated as Imran’s focal person for security.

At this proposal, the law officer applauded it while PTI’s counsels strongly opposed it.

At first, advocate Siddique requested the court to not nominate CCPO Lahore as the focal person for the PTI chairman's security. However, later during the hearing, he requested the court to grant him some time for holding a consultation with the former prime minister on this point.

Petition

Sharing information from his credible sources, Imran contended in his petition that “he would yet again be targeted during his exposure in the court hearings and appearances”.

The former prime minister submitted that his popularity in the political arena has become a cause of concern for his political adversaries who, after the failure of several criminal cases, have now resorted to the opinion of “eliminating him altogether for the political scene as final disposal”.

He also stated that since he was ousted from the government, the present regime decided to lodge a series of bogus cases against the him and senior leadership of PTI who were also subjected to torture on the basis of serious charges like sedition and mutiny.

“All state machinery was misused with the sole object of political victimization and score-settling. Being aggrieved by malicious campaign launched against him and senior members by registering baseless and false cases across Pakistan, the PTI decided to protest against incumbent Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and announced “haqeqi Azadi March,” the petition read.

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The ousted premier contended that the assassination attempt was planned and executed at the behest of the political adversaries of the petitioner who were of immense popularity.

“The petitioner wishes to fight with politically motivated cases but due to inadequate arrangements he remained unable to attend some hearings physically, the petition added.

Imran, in his petition, also sought strict action against respondents for failing to maintain law and order on court premises during his court proceedings.

The petition further sought “no adverse action and no arrest” until he is provided proper security for court attendance and appearances