• LHC sets aside govt’s move for ex-PM’s video-link appearance; judges grill prosecutor general
• PTI founder petitions court against ‘rumours’ about him being given into military custody

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday gave big relief to incarcerated PTI leader Imran Khan quashing his physical remand in 12 cases related to May 9 riots, including the attack on the corps commander’s house.

A two-judge bench comprising Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh and Justice Anwarul Haq Pannun also set aside a Punjab home department notification permitting video-link appearance of Imran Khan in the 12 FIRs for remand proceedings in an antiterrorism court.

During the hearing, Justice Pannun asked Punjab Prosecutor General Syed Farhad Ali Shah when did the prosecution realise that voice matching and other tests for the PTI’s founding chairman were necessary after the May 9 events.

The judge questioned why the arrest was not made earlier, knowing that the required person was in jail.

Justice Sheikh also questioned the need for a physical remand, saying if a polygraph test was required, then the suspect was already in the judicial custody.

The judge observed that the timing of the arrest and the requirement of the 10-day remand was crucial. He noted that a photogrammetric test could be done once, and if the suspect did not cooperate in the investigation, he would be responsible for the consequences.

The prosecutor general said the photogrammetric test would be conducted within the jail, not outside.

He presented details of the PTI founder’s social media accounts and read out his tweets, stating that a specific narrative had been built.

Justice Pannun remarked that the judges received more threats nowadays than what was mentioned in the tweets and questioned whether the slogan “respect the vote” (a slogan used by PML-N) was not a narrative.

The prosecutor general said the claim that the army chief was responsible for not respecting the vote was not a legitimate narrative.

The judge asked how a call for protest could constitute an offence unless it involved leading the attacks.

The prosecutor general stated that the PTI founder had instructed his followers to shut down the country and attack GHQ in case he was arrested by the Rangers or the army.

Justice Sheikh observed that the ATC judge should have assessed whether a physical remand was justified in the case. Prosecutor General Shah said sedition charges would be pursued against the PTI founder under Section 121 of the PPC, to which the bench observed that this section had already been nullified by the LHC.

After hearing both sides, the bench set aside the physical remand of the ex-PM in the May 9 cases. A written order is yet to be issued. On July 15, an ATC had granted a JIT 10-day physical remand of Imran Khan.

Barrister Safdar told the media it was unclear whether the PTI founder had been discharged from these cases.

He said a written order would answer the question.

Objection sustained

Justice Sheikh sustained an office objection to a separate petition by Mr Khan in which he expressed concerns about being handed over to the military.

The registrar office had objected to the petition on the grounds that the signatures of the petitioner on his lawyer’s power of attorney were not verified.

The judge instructed the lawyer to remove the objection and file the petition afresh.

The PTI founder had filed the petition through Advocate Uzair Karamat Bhandari and Barrister Salman Safdar. He expressed concern over speculations about the possibility of him being handed over to the military.

He said that according to the Supreme Court’s orders, civilians cannot be tried in military courts, and such actions would not align with the Constitution. He requested the court to order the authorities to keep him in civilian custody.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2024