ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday sought permission of the trial court to allow five more witnesses to testify against Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case.

On the other hand, an Anti-Terro­rism Court (ATC) issued bailable arrest warrants for Mr Khan over his absence in the cases related to violence and damaging public property.

In the Toshakhana case, the trial court judge Humayun Dilawar summoned Mr Khan for Thursday.

However, Mr Khan’s counsel Barrister Gohar Ali Khan sought exemption from personal appearance, saying that the PTI chief was scheduled to appear before the Lahore High Court (LHC) to get protective bail in a few cases.

ECP’s counsel submitted an application to bring five more witnesses on record. Initially, there were three prosecution witnesses cited in the case.

ATC issues bailable warrants for Imran

The five new witnesses included the four officers of the Cabinet Divi­sion and a manager of a private bank.

The deputy secretary admin of the Cabinet Division Arshad Mehmood, deputy secretary coordination Faisal Tehsin, section officer Ali Asad and section officer Toshakhana Mohsin Ali and bank manager Amber Hussain.

The judge issued notices to the PTI chairman on the application. He was adjourning the case for Saturday, however, the ECP’s legal counsel requested for a day long adjournment, saying that he would conclude arguments on Friday (today) on the application.

The ECP’s counsel Amjad Pervaiz also opposed exempting Mr Khan’s attendance. He termed this a poor legal precedence where an accused never attended even once during the criminal proceeding.

Separately, the ATC of Islamabad issued bailable arrest warrants for Mr Khan, PTI leaders Shibli Faraz, Farrukh Habib and Hassan Khan Niazi in three cases pertaining to violence outside the Federal Judic­i­­al Complex (FJC) and the Islamabad High Court in March this year.

During the course of hearing on Thursday, Mr Khan’s counsel sought exemption from personal appearan­­ce; however, ATC judge Abual Has­nat Zulqarnain rejected the request.

Al-Qadir Trust case

An accountability court extended the interim bail of Mr Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in £190 million corruption case, also known as Al-Qadir Trust corruption case.

Mr Khan’s counsel Khawaja Haris sought his client’s exemption from personal attendance, saying that he was appearing before the Lahore High Court in connection with his petitions seeking protective bail in the cases registered against him over May 9 violence.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2023