LAHORE: As a Lahore High Court larger bench is set to resume the hearing on Monday on a petition of former prime minister Imran Khan seeking quashment of as many as 121 cases registered against him, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief has made a fresh request for allowing him appearance in these cases through video-link facility.
In a civil miscellaneous application filed in the pending main petition, Khan says a plethora of “false” cases have been registered against him and he is required to appear repeatedly before various judicial forums to defend himself.
The PTI chief pleads that on each occasion of his appearance before a judicial forum, he faces a serious threat to his life due to the lack of security being provided to him despite his entitlement as a former prime minister.
He submits that permitting him to appear through video-link for the hearings will be cost-effective and viable for the administration of the criminal justice system, as there will be no need to deploy thousands of security officials on the occasion of his court appearance.
Therefore, the petitioner asks the court to allow him to participate and appear in all cases against him within the jurisdiction of the LHC through video-link with the aid of modern and scientific devices in the interests of justice.
He also urges the court to direct the respondents/authorities to facilitate him and make necessary arrangements in this regard.
Headed by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, the five-judge larger bench on May 2 directed the PTI chairman to join the investigation of the cases against him. The bench had also directed the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to present its report on Monday.
Justice Aalia Neelum, Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh, Justice Anwarul Haq Pannun and Justice Muhammad Amjad Rafiq are the other members of the bench.
A JIT on Friday visited the Zaman Park to record the statement of the former prime minister and to collect evidence of the violence and attacks by the PTI workers on the police teams.
Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2023