Imran Khan, the leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, declared on Wednesday that his party will end its “Jail Bharo Tehreek (court arrest movement)” in response to today’s Supreme Court ruling and start its election campaign on March 4. “We put an end to the ‘Jail Bharo’ movement after the verdict. On Saturday, we will launch our election campaign, the PTI leader announced during a speech delivered via video link from Lahore. The party made its decision after the Supreme Court decided in a split decision that elections for the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) assemblies should take place within 90 days.
In the verdict, the apex court noted that there are “different aspects and requirements” for holding polls but ruled that one thing that was “absolutely crucial is the timeframe” for the polls. Additionally, it stated that the Constitution provides for two election periods: 60 days in cases where the assembly is dissolved after its term has ended and 90 days in cases where the assembly is dissolved prior to the end of its term.
Meanwhile, a lower court on Wednesday issued written orders regarding the non-bailable arrest warrants against PTI chairman Imran Khan in Toshakhana case.
District and Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal issued the detailed order regarding the matter.
The court in its order stated that Imran Khan was deciding his appearances as per his ‘priorities’. The court order stated that the Toshakhana case was not the priority of the PTI chief. The court in its written order instructed the Islamabad police to produce Imran Khan on March 7 after arresting the accused.
The order noted that Imran Khan had been absent repeatedly from the hearing and he couldn’t appear even in the last hearing during the court’s time.
The order added that Imran Khan had said in his application that he couldn’t appear before this court due to his attendance in the Judicial Complex before the banking court.
The order said that Imran Khan was just a few minutes drive away from the district Kachehri court, F8, adding that his application for exemption was not acceptable.
It may be mentioned that the district election commissioner Islamabad had filed the said case seeking criminal proceddings against Imran Khan for hiding the details of foreign gifts he received as the former prime minister and alleged undervaluation of the gift items before selling them at exorbitant rates.
