LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday issued notices to the Punjab government and other respondents on a petition of PTI former chairman Imran Khan against a decision of the provincial cabinet to prosecute him and other leaders of his party on charges of involvement in the May 9 riots.

A two-judge bench, comprising Justice Farooq Haider and Justice Shakil Ahmad, directed a law officer to submit replies on behalf of the respondents by June 10.

Earlier, Advocate Sardar Latif Khan Khosa argued on behalf of the petitioner that the Punjab Cabinet on May 24 had approved the nomination of PTI leaders in additional cases of May 9 protests. He said the decision was made in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of the petitioner’s arch rival Nawaz Sharif.

He said the federal and Punjab governments were scared of Imran Khan, sensing his release from the false cases. He alleged that both governments wanted to implicate Imran in fake cases. He asked the court to set aside the impugned decision by the Punjab cabinet for being illegal, without jurisdiction, mala fide and of no legal consequence.

The Punjab Cabinet had approved fresh legal action against the former prime minister and other PTI leaders for ‘building a hate-narrative against state institutions’.

According to Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari, Mr Khan had constantly been building a narrative against state institutions that’s why the provincial cabinet had decided to take action.

Parvez: A special court on Monday allowed former chief minister Parvez Elahi a one-time exemption from personal appearance on the medical grounds in the case of illegal appointments in the Punjab Assembly.

Mr Elahi, who has been released on bail, did not appear before the court and medical reports furnished by his counsel said the doctors had recommended a complete bed rest for him.

The lawyer said the doctors also advised Mr Elahi to have some critical medical tests done, which were yet to be conducted. He asked the court to allow the former chief minister a one-time exemption from personal appearance.

The court allowed the request and delayed the indictment of Mr Elahi and other suspects in the case till June 14.

Previously, the court kept delaying the indictment in the case for months due to non-production of Mr Elahi by the prosecution, citing medical reasons.

However, the PTI leader also skipped two hearings after his release on bail.

The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) had registered the FIR, alleging that illegal appointments of BPS-17 posts were made in the assembly when Mr Elahi was the CM and co-suspect Muhammad Khan Bhatti was his principal secretary in 2021.

The prosecution said the favourite candidates were appointed to the posts despite being declared failed in the written examination. The appointed candidates had also been nominated as suspects in the case.

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2024