ISLAMABAD: Incarcerated for­mer prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday threatened the govern­ment with a jail bharo tehreek (court arrest drive) if his party was not allowed to hold its jalsa in Lahore on Sept 21.

Talking to reporters after accountability court proceedings in the £190m corruption case at Adiala Jail, Mr Khan said he had been in prison for the last 15 months and could stay there longer.

He described the planned Sept 21 jalsa as a “do and die” issue for PTI, saying the Constitution guaranteed the right of assembly and if this right was denied, PTI supporters would fill the jails.

He alleged that the government was playing havoc with the Supreme Court by amending the Constitution in haste and it was tantamount to usurping the right to liberty which enslaved people.

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In response to a question whether he supports the proposed Federal Constitution Court, Mr Khan said amendments were being made to clip the wings of judiciary.

He claimed that the government wants to extend the tenure of Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, adding that even schoolboys know the objectives behind these amend­ments. The ex-PM said he knew that the government would intro­duce these amendments as they were afraid of the PTI’s popularity.

Cross-examination

Earlier, Mr Khan’s counsel concl­uded cross-examination of the last prosecution witness in the case.

Advocate Zaheer Abbas questio­ned the witness, an investigation of­­­­­­ficer of the National Account­abi­lity Bureau. However, the counsel for Bushra Bibi, Usman Riaz Gill, was not available to cross-examine the witness.

Mr Khan’s counsel requested the court to adjourn the hearing till Sept 26. Accountability Court judge Nasir Javed Rana remarked that the def­ence counsel could not complete the cross-examination during the last 21 hearings while the inv­esti­g­ation officer had appeared on every date and rejected the counsel’s request. The case would be taken up on Friday (today).

Meanwhile, IHC Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb reminded the special judge, central, to decide Mr Khan and his spouse’s bail pe­­t­itions within five days in accordance with the National Judicial Policy.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2024