Imran’s arrest is legal, rules IHC

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) termed the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan in Al-Qadir Trust case “legal” but issued notices to the Islamabad inspector general police (IGP) and secretary interior for contempt of court.

The court also ordered its registrar to complete an inquiry into the incident—which involved manhandling of lawyers and court staff and damaging of court properties— by May 16 and get a first information report (FIR) registered against people responsible for it.

Officials of paramilitary Rangers and police arrested the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief from the IHC premises on Monday afternoon while implementing an arrest warrant issued by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the country’s top graft buster.

The arrest was followed by countrywide protests by the PTI supporters. IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq also took notice of the matter and summoned the Islamabad IGP, the interior secretary and the additional attorney general (AAG) to appear before the court in “within 15 minutes”.

The judge also ordered the AAG to immediately find out who was behind the arrest.

“If an inquiry has to be conducted, action will also be taken against the prime minister and ministers,” the judge warned. He subsequently also ordered the NAB director general (DG) and prosecutor general to appear in person in 30 minutes.

When the court resumed the hearing after a break, NAB Deputy Prosecutor General Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi told the court that the graft buster had asked the Ministry of Interior to implement its arrest warrant issued against Imran on May 1.

When Justice Farooq asked Abbasi if authorities could make an arrest from court premises, he replied that any action could be taken if an accused put up resistance.

Read Imran Khan’s dramatic arrest at IHC triggers countrywide protests

The deputy prosecutor, however, admitted that court property was damaged and lawyers were manhandled. The IHC chief justice noted that an appropriate method should be adopted when authorities implement an arrest warrant.

The NAB prosecutor told the court that Imran Khan resisted arrest on many occasions in the past and that he did not appear before the NAB during its inquiry into the scandal. He said NAB issued arrest warrants for the former premier as per law.

The chief justice, however, stated that his primary concern is to determine whether the arrest was made in accordance with law or not. The deputy prosecutor said there is no restriction on arresting an accused from a court premises.

“In view of the court’s sanctity, the former PM was not taken into custody from the courtroom,” he said.

 IHC Bar Association President Naveed Malik who was present in the courtroom contented that the court compound was attacked and lawyers were injured.

Imran’s counsel Khawaja Haris asked the court to inquire NAB as to when it changed the inquiry in the Al-Qadir Trust case into an investigation. He said a copy of the investigation must be provided to Imran’s legal team if any changes are made to the inquiry of the case.

 “I wrote a letter to NAB in this connection which is attached,” he said.

The counsel said they responded to NAB’s summons. He said the anti-corruption watchdog’s own records show that the arrest was a malicious act.

Haris said NAB could issue an arrest warrant during the investigation and added that before amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999 warrants could be issued during the inquiry.

He said the PTI chief had found out about the NAB inquiry being turned into an investigation through newspapers. “We were preparing to file a bail application and Imran Khan had come to the court for biometric verification which is needed for bail application.”

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He said Imran’s arrest was a violation of fundamental rights and an attack on the independence of the judiciary. He requested the IHC order his client's release. “The arrest is illegal, orders should be issued for the release of Imran Khan,” he said.

The NAB deputy prosecutor said the inquiry was turned into an investigation on April 28, adding that the former PM did not appear before the bureau for investigation. “NAB carried out a detailed investigation in the case,” he added.

Justice Farooq observed that Imran’s release order would be issued if any illegality was committed in the compliance of arrest warrants and reserved the verdict on the matter, which was later unveiled.

Earlier in the day, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad granted interim bail to Imran Khan in seven different terrorism cases. Imran Khan also approached the IHC, showing his willingness to join investigations into different cases registered against him.

The PTI chief told the court that he had written letters to Islamabad IG, advocate general and additional attorney general, communicating his desire to join the investigation but the officials did not reply. He requested the court issue instructions to the officials in this regard.

Meanwhile, the IHC ordered police not to arrest eight Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders including former information minister Fawad Chaudhry while hearing their bail applications.