Imran Khan fails to appear before JIT for second consecutive day

• Islamabad Police had summoned Khan to appear today.
• Instead of appearing before the JIT he left for Gujranwala.
• Imran Khan is on bail in the case till September 12.

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister and PTI chief Imran Khan Saturday failed to appear before the Islamabad Police’s joint investigation team (JIT) despite a notice sent to him once again for the second consecutive time.

Islamabad Police had asked Khan to appear at 5pm; however, the former prime minister instead of appearing before the JIT left for Gujranwala to address PTI’s scheduled public gathering.

The notice was issued today after the former prime minister failed to appear before the JIT at the Margalla Police Station in a case lodged against him for allegedly threatening a lower court judge, Zeba Chaudhry.

The notice mentioned that Khan is on bail in the case till September 12, therefore, he should appear before the investigation team at 5pm today to ensure that he answers its questions.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) had also earlier this week asked the former prime minister to ensure that he cooperates with the police in the case's investigation.

Although Khan did not appear before the JIT, he submitted a reply on Friday through his lawyer stating that the threats issued to a female judge in a rally do not fall under “terrorism” and the case should be dismissed as he is “innocent”.

“I am the chairman of Tehreek-e-Insaf, I have been the prime minister of Pakistan, the government tortured [my aide] Shahbaz Gill due to political opposition, the report filed in the Islamabad High Court proved the torture of Shahbaz Gill,” Khan told the JIT.

The PTI leader added that what he said in the speech cannot be categorised as terrorism, adding that he neither committed any illegal acts nor harmed anyone.

The case and bails

A first information report (FIR) was registered against the former prime minister on August 21 under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) for threatening the additional sessions judge and senior police officers of the Islamabad Police at a rally in the federal capital’s F-9 Park.

The FIR was registered on the complaint of magistrate Ali Javed at Islamabad's Margalla Police Station under Section 7 of ATA.

Following this, Khan managed to secure transit bail till August 25 from the IHC but was asked to approach the ATC as it was the relevant forum. Then, the trial court extended the interim bail till September 12 in the terrorism case.