A bailable arrest warrant was issued against former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and other top leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Wednesday by the country’s top election body. A case has been registered against the party after some top leaders made statements against the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja.
A bench of judges headed by Justice Nisar Durrani had issued the warrants against Khan and his close aides Fawad Chaudhary and Asad Umar. The election watchdog issued its contempt notices in August and September last year after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders repeatedly bashed the commission and Raja about their partisan policy and their claims. The notice was issued in exercise of powers. Accused of supporting the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
In the last hearing, the ECP had given PTI leaders one last chance to appear. During the hearing on Tuesday, the commission rejected their plea for exemption from appearance and issued arrest warrants against surety bonds of Rs 50,000 each. The bench adjourned the hearing till January 17.
Khan has been asking the ECP chief to resign for allegedly failing to play the role of a neutral election commissioner. The chief dismissed the call saying that he was acting according to the law. Senior leaders of Khan’s party expressed dismay and anger at the move. Chaudhary and Umar, whose arrest warrants were also issued along with Khan, termed the ECP’s order as biased. “ECP’s decision to issue bailable warrants is an insult to High Court’s judgement,” Chowdhury tweeted.
“The matter was fixed for January 17, which was taken up against the rules till today and the matter was decided,” he claimed and added that it was ‘yet another biased decision’ by the ECP members. He asserted that the PTI leader “will pursue a contempt of court case against this decision in the High Court”. Omar, who is the general secretary of PTI, reminded the electoral body to instead focus on its primary responsibilities. “Instead of holding elections, they are engaged in these works,” he said. Omar also said that “he himself is in contempt of court for not organizing Islamabad”. [local body] Election.”
(With inputs from PTI)
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