ISLAMABAD: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday stopped police from arresting former prime minister Imran Khan from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore till Thursday, halting violent clashes between his supporters and law enforcers that broke out on Tuesday and continued throughout the next day.
Court orders to arrest Khan came in a case popularly known as the Toshakhana reference, involving the sale of state gifts given by foreign leaders while he was prime minister. Pakistan’s election commission found him guilty in the matter last year. A criminal inquiry is now underway, and if convicted, Khan faces being barred from holding public office, a huge setback with a national election scheduled for November.
Police say a court in Islamabad ordered Khan’s arrest for not appearing before it despite repeated summons. Khan and his aides cite security concerns for the non-appearance. The ex-PM received gunshot wounds in November last year while leading an anti-government rally in Pakistan's Wazirabad city.
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan stands with people in Zaman Park, after security forces had fired tear gas and water cannons at hundreds of Khan's supporters who had cordoned off his home in an effort to prevent his arrest, in Lahore, Pakistan, on March 15, 2023 in this picture obtained from social media. (Musa Virk Via Twitter/via REUTERS)
Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party moved the LHC and the Islamabad High Court (IHC) separately in their bid to have his arrest warrants suspended and the police operation to take him into custody halted.
The IHC has reserved its judgment in the case after hearing the former premier's arguments. However, LHC judge Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh directed the Punjab police chief to stop the operation outside Khan's residence till the IHC announced its verdict.
“The court has to ensure security to life and property of the citizens,” the judge remarked while hearing the petition.
“Thank God, the Lahore High Court has suspended the [police] operation in Zaman Park,” PTI leader Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said in a Twitter post, adding that the court would resume hearing the petition at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday.
The police chief assured the high court he would follow its orders and move the police force away from Zaman Park to Lahore's Mall Road and Dharrampura bridge.
During the hearing, PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi accused police of intentionally inciting the party's supporters to violent clashes despite the PTI's attempts to resolve the issue peacefully.
“We believe in the rule of law, but they [the police] fired tear gas and water cannons despite our repeated requests for a ceasefire,” Qureshi said. He added that police wanted to arrest the entire PTI leadership at a time when political and electoral activities were going on in the country.
Qureshi also said the police operation outside Zaman Park was a violation of people's fundamental human rights.
“Imran’s residence has become a war zone,” Qureshi said during the hearing. “The police have been stationed there for the past 21 hours.”
In its verdict, the IHC dismissed the petition seeking suspension of Khan's arrest warrants. "Imran Khan can move the trial court for cancellation of the arrest warrants," the IHC said in its judgment that was reserved earlier in the day.
The court said that to get relief, Khan's undertaking to present himself in the trial court on March 18 should be presented in the high court on Thursday.
Police and paramilitary soldiers earlier today, Wednesday, withdrew from the area around Khan’s residence, pausing clashes that erupted the previous day.
Supporters of the leader, who had pelted police with stones and bricks on Tuesday and Wednesday, cheered and celebrated as law enforcers withdrew.
“Celebrate it but be prepared,” Khan’s personal security guard Mudassar Raza told jubilant supporters outside his home.
“These are the people who do not believe in the law, and they will come back. You have to stay here and be prepared,” he added.
