Lahore High Court Nullifies Physical Remand for Imran Khan in 12 Cases
Lahore: The Lahore High Court has overturned the physical remand of Imran Khan in 12 cases from May 9. The court, led by Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh, reviewed the cases against the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
At the beginning of the hearing, Justice Anwarul Haq inquired about the number of cases against the petitioner. Imran Khan's lawyer, Salman Safdar, stated that Khan was named in three cases directly and in others through supplementary processes.
The Punjab Prosecutor General presented the records and progress reports of the cases in court. Justice Haq questioned why Khan was not arrested earlier, noting that the law requires immediate arrest upon identification of a suspect. The Prosecutor General explained that Khan was on interim bail and could not be arrested earlier. Khan had also refused to cooperate with investigations.
Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh noted the timing of Khan's arrest and questioned the necessity of physical remand for conducting tests. The Prosecutor General argued that Khan had expressed safety concerns and was not willing to appear in court. Justice Sheikh questioned why physical remand was needed for brief tests.
The court adjourned for 10 minutes. Upon resuming, the Prosecutor General presented details of Khan’s social media accounts and read his tweets, arguing that a specific narrative was created. Justice Anwarul Haq remarked that the threats in Khan’s tweets were no more severe than those received by judges.
The Prosecutor General claimed that Khan’s narrative was created by PTI, while Justice Haq inquired about the legal implications of Khan’s protests. The Prosecutor General cited Section 121 for rebellion charges, but Justice Sheikh noted that this section had been nullified by the Lahore High Court.
The Prosecutor General argued against Khan’s requests, claiming that their investigation would be compromised and that phones used for tweets needed to be recovered. Justice Haq questioned how recovery could be done if Khan remained in jail.
Defense attorney Salman Safdar argued that Khan’s bail had already been granted and that the police had delayed the cases. He criticized the use of security concerns as a reason to avoid presenting Khan in court.
The Lahore High Court reserved its decision on Khan's physical remand and later nullified the remand for the 12 cases.
