IHC directs security arrangements for Imran’s appearance today

The Registrar Office of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday directed the Islamabad Police and district administration to ensure security arrangements for the possible appearance of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan today (Tuesday). The registrar, in a circular, said an IHC bench would take up interim bail petition of Imran Khan at 2:30 p.m. on May 31 in Courtroom No.3. The entry of journalists and lawyers into the court premises would be permitted through special passes while the court staff would be exempted from it. The registrar said 10 lawyers from the Attorney General’s office and 30 members of the Islamabad High Court Bar Association would be allowed. Imran Khan would be allowed to take 15 lawyers along with him. Afridi being kept in death cell, IHC told Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shehryar Afridi’s lawyer Sher Afzal Marwat told the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday that his client is being kept in a “death cell”. During the hearing of a case against the arrest of the PTI leader, Marwat requested Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir to transfer Afridi to an A-class jail. He also requested the court to order a medical check-up of his client, adding that the former minister fell at the time of his arrest due to which his “left arm is paralysed”. In his remarks, the state council informed the court that Afridi is being interrogated in the I-9 case as well. Seeking details of the PTI leader’s medical records, the court said that it will pass an appropriate order on the plea of Afridi’s brother and adjourned the hearing of the case till June 2. The PTI leader was arrested on May 16. According to the party, the ex-minister was “picked up” from Islamabad allegedly along with his wife. Ejaz Chaudhry sent on 14-day remand An anti-terrorism court of Lahore Monday rejected an appeal for PTI Senator Ejaz Chaudhry’s further physical remand and sent him to jail on 14-day judicial remand. The court was hearing a case of firing and arson at a plaza in Gulberg, Lahore. Chaudhry was produced before the court on the completion of his three-day physical remand. The plea sought an extension to the physical remand of the suspect to recover his mobile phone and further investigation. Judge Abhar Gul Khan of the Anti-Terrorism Court conducted the hearing. Meanwhile, the Islamabad Anti-Terrorism Court extended the interim bail of former PTI MNA Raja Khurram Nawaz in the Judicial Complex vandalism case. The petitioner submitted an application for bail Court extends interim bail of Asad Qaiser A Sessions Court Islamabad extended the interim bail of former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser till June 5, in a case pertaining to protests and rioting in the federal capital. Additional District and Sessions Judge Tahir Abbas Sapra heard the bail case of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader in a first information report (FIR) registered by the Sangjani Police Station. The petitioner’s lawyer, Afzal Murawat, adopted the stance that there was a risk of the arrest of his client and prayed to the court to grant him exemption from appearance or grant assurance that he would not be arrested. The judge remarked that the court could not give any such assurance and instructed the lawyer to produce the petitioner. The lawyer argued that his client had joined the investigation process and the court had to view only the grounds for exemption request. He also gave the reference of a judgment of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in a similar matter. He said the police had been deployed at the entry gates of the courts for the arrest of his client. The judge, however, noted that the petitioner had not mentioned that in the application. The lawyer then filed another application seeking exemption for his client from hearing on fresh grounds. The court accepted the request and extended the interim bail till June 5. Khadija’s request for medical examination rejected An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) dismissed the request of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) activist and renowned fashion designer Khadija Shah for a medical examination and a meeting with her family. Hearing Khadija Shah’s plea, filed by her lawyer Samir Khosa, Admin Judge Abher Gul Khan of the ATC Islamabad rejected and dismissed the fashion designer’s request for medical examination and meeting her family. The PTI activist was arrested on charges of incitement to arson for her alleged involvement in the May 9 riots following PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s arrest. Shah’s counsel had appealed to the court to demand a medical report from jail authorities and permission for her family family to meet her in jail. In the petition, her counsel had also stated that Khadija Shah’s family is very worried due to reports of her deteriorating health. Since she was arrested, her family has not been allowed to meet her, stated the petition.