Former prime minister and PTI chief Imran Khan Saturday failed to appear before the Islamabad Police’s joint investigation team despite a notice sent to him once again for the second consecutive time.
Islamabad Police had summoned Khan to appear at 5pm; however, the former prime minister instead of appearing before the JIT left for Gujranwala to address PTI’s public gathering.
The notice was issued Saturday after the former prime minister failed to appear before the JIT at the Margalla Police Station in a case lodged against him for allegedly threatening a lower court judge, Zeba Chaudhry.
The notice mentioned that Khan is on bail in the case till September 12, therefore, he should appear before the investigation team at 5pm to ensure that he answers its questions.
The Islamabad High Court had also earlier this week asked the former prime minister to ensure that he cooperates with the police in the case’s investigation. Although Khan did not appear before the JIT, he submitted a reply on Friday through his lawyer stating that the threats issued to a female judge in a rally do not fall under “terrorism” and the case should be dismissed as he is “innocent”.
“I am the chairman of Tehreek-e-Insaf, I have been the prime minister of Pakistan, the government tortured [my aide] Shahbaz Gill due to political opposition, the report filed in the Islamabad High Court proved the torture of Shahbaz Gill,” Khan told the JIT.
The PTI leader added that what he said in the speech cannot be categorised as terrorism, adding that he neither committed any illegal acts nor harmed anyone.
Meanwhile, a sessions court on Saturday fined former prime minister and PTI chief Imran Khan for seeking an adjournment of the hearing in the Rs10b defamation case filed against Defence Minister Khawaja Asif.
Additional Sessions Judge Adnan Khan imposed a fine of Rs5,000 on the PTI chief for seeking an adjournment in the hearing due to his involvement in the ongoing relief operation for the flood victims in Sindh.
The PML-N leader’s lawyer Advocate Ali Shah Geelani appeared before the court during the hearing, but his cross-examination of Khan’s statement had to be postponed. The court accepted Khan’s counsel’s request to adjourn the hearing, after which the hearing was adjourned till September 24.
Khan had filed the defamation suit against Khawaja Asif in 2012 for recovery of Rs10 billion as the latter had at a press conference levelled allegations about misappropriation of and money laundering through the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust funds.
