ISLAMABAD, May 11, 2023 (TBINN)
Supreme Court if Pakistan ordered the anti-corruption watchdog to produce former prime minister Imran Khan within an hour as it observed that the agency committed contempt of court by entering the court premises and arresting him without permission from the court’s registrar.
Directive has been issued by a three-member bench, comprising chief justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and justice Athar Minallah, which heard Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman’s plea against his arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust Case on Tuesday.
Bench, during the hearing, expressed anger at the way 70-year-old Khan was arrested from the premises of the Islamabad High Court where he had come from Lahore for a case. The bench directed N.A.B. to produce Imran Khan as the court would reconvene. At the start of hearing, chief justice Bandial asked how an individual could be arrested from the court premises. Justice Minallah observed that Imran Khan indeed entered court premises. How can anyone be denied the right to justice? he asked.
Court also observed that no one could be arrested from the court without permission of the registrar of the court. It also observed that the arrest tantamounts to denying access to justice without fear and intimation, which was the right of every citizen.
Besides, court said that by entering the premises of a court means surrendering to the court and how a person could be arrested after surrender. If an individual surrenders to the court, then what does arresting them mean, the chief justice said.
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