File photo of PTI chief Imran Khan
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Monday claimed before the Lahore High Court (LHC) that he fears the government will launch an “operation” at his Zaman Park residence during the Eidul Fitr holidays to arrest him.
Taking the rostrum during a hearing into his petition for details of all the cases registered against him, he claimed that an earlier police operation at Zaman Park had happened in violation of court orders. “Now during holidays, they will launch an operation. I have credible reports that they will launch an operation. The court must stop them,” he claimed, without offering any evidence as his usual practice.
“I am just informing you about the threats beforehand,” he said, adding that he wanted a blanket order against the registration of any new cases against him to “prevent bloodshed.” The PTI, he claimed, has “no faith in the system.”
During the proceedings, Khan’s counsel Salman Safdar maintained in court that state machinery was being used against his client. “Everything has a limit; in all cases the police are the complainant,” he said, with Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh questioning what the issue was if his client’s stance had been recorded in court. Safdar argued that all cases included terrorism charges and the court must act over this “misuse” of authority.
“We have to fight on all fronts. Coming to take bail every day is not the solution,” he said, claiming there was no need to arrest the PTI chief in any of the cases registered against him thus far. “Now, Eid is coming and the court will not be working. During these days the police may open another front at Zaman Park,” he claimed, seeking directions barring police from registering any case over Eid.
“Is there any such precedence?” Justice Sheikh asked to no satisfactory response.
Anwar Mansoor, Khan’s other lawyer, meanwhile argued that threats of arrest were an attempt to delay elections. “A political leader is being threatened with arrest so he does not go to the people,” he claimed.
Taking the rostrum, the Punjab government’s lawyer said it was illegal to demand that a court’s permission be sought to initiate an investigation. “Courts have been rejecting such petitions,” he noted, arguing the petition was not maintainable.
However, Justice Sheikh remarked that the petition had no issues apart from its inclusion of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as a respondent. When Khan’s lawyer tried to argue that government machinery had never been used as it was being against his client, Justice Sheikh referred to arguments of the government lawyer, who had noted similar actions against leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) when the PTI was in power.
The court then took a brief recess, with the two-member bench announcing they were sending the case to the LHC chief justice for the formation of a full bench to hear the case, as it was similar to another case that had already been recommended for the same.