FIR against Imran in lawyer murder case quashed claims Panjutha

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan's lawyer Naeem Haider Panjutha on Monday said that a court has quashed a first information report (FIR) stating murder abetment charges against the former premier.

Imran Khan had been charged in June with abetting the murder of Supreme Court lawyer Abdul Razzaq, who was killed in a drive-by shooting in the southwestern city of Quetta in the same month. Razzaq's son had accused Khan of being behind his father's murder.

"God be praised," Imran's lawyer Panjutha said in a post on X, the micro-blogging platform formerly known as Twitter, celebrating the dismissal of the case.

"The court has dismissed the FIR registered against Imran Khan registered in Bijli Road police station in Quetta," he announced adding that "once again Imran Khan has emerged victorious against a false case. Congratulations to all of Pakistan for the victory of justice."

Read Release uncertainty surrounds Imran’s case

A government prosecutor wasn't immediately available to comment on the ruling.

Before his assassination, Razzaq had submitted an application against Imran, seeking registration of a treason case against the former prime minister for violating the Constitution by unconstitutionally dissolving parliament after he lost a vote of confidence in April 2022. A division bench of the Balochistan High Court (BHC) had fixed a hearing of the case on June 7 -- the day of the killing.

However, the case could not be heard because of the absence of the bench, while members of the legal fraternity boycotted court proceedings against the killing of the senior lawyer.

The Supreme Court's (SC) Quetta registry had taken up Imran's plea against the decision of the BHC whereby the high court had dismissed the PTI chief's request to quash the FIR.

WIth input from Reuters