A court in Islamabad issued non-bailable arrest warrants for former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan on Monday in a case pertaining to usage of language deemed to be threatening against a female additional district and sessions judge and senior police officers.
Senior civil judge Rana Mujahid Rahim who presided over the case instructed the police to arrest the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief and present him before the court by March 29.
People familiar with the developments told CNN-News18 said Imran Khan did not appear in the court on Monday and filed a request for exemption from attendance due to security concerns, which was rejected by the court.
The people mentioned above said that the court will listen to arguments by Imran’s petitioners who want the warrants dismissed in the next proceedings.
On August 20, Imran Khan condemned the police as well as the judiciary over the alleged Shahbaz Gill custodial torture case and threatened to file cases against additional district and sessions judge Zeba Chaudhry, inspector general of police Dr Akbar Nasir Khan.
After he issued the threats, he was booked under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and the Islamabad High Court initiated contempt of court proceedings against him.
Even though the Islamabad HC removed the terror charges against Imran and pardoned him following an apology in the contempt case, the case against him for threatening Zeba Chaudhry, the judge, is pending before the sessions court.
Imran Khan’s legal team filed another petition seeking the acquittal of his client in the case citing that in-person appearance was not mandatory in the acquittal plea. The judge earlier warned that non-bailable arrest warrants could be issued for Khan in case he fails to appear before the court.
Meanwhile, the former Pakistan premier also faces non-bailable arrest warrants from the Toshakhana reference case. Under directions issued by a district and sessions court in Islamabad, police were instructed to arrest and present Imran Khan before the court on March 18.
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