IHC quashes terrorism charges against Imran Khan

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has quashed the terrorism charges against former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan over his remarks against Additional Sessional Judge Zeba Chaudhry, ARY News reported on Monday.

A two-member bench, headed by IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, announced the verdict – reserved earlier in the day – on PTI’s plea, seeking dismissal of the case. The court ordered that proceedings on the other sections of the case would continue in the relevant forum.

During the hearing, IHC CJ Minallah inquired about the views given by the joint investigation team (JIT) at the outset of the trial. To which, the prosecutor – while quoting JIT – said the terrorism charges are applicable to Imran Khan’s statement.

However, Imran Khan’s lawyer opposed the argument, saying that there were some basic factors required to warrant terrorism charges that were absent in the case.

“A terror case can be lodged for creating an atmosphere of fear and terror, not on the possibility of creation of such an atmosphere,” he argued.

The counsel noted that the former premier spoke about taking legal action and lodging a case against an Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and Deputy Inspector-General (DIG), contending that the individuals concerned should have filed the case.

He said a “mastermind” was behind this computerised complaint against Imran Khan that has been written with patience.

Hearing the arguments from both sides, the IHC chief justice ordered the authorities to remove sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) from the case while announcing the verdict.

It is pertinent to mention here that the PTI Chairman Imran Khan had obtained bail from the anti-terrorism court (ATC) in a case where he is charged under terrorism law for a threatening speech against a female judge and Islamabad police officials.

The ATC approved the interim bail of the PTI chairman until September 01 against a surety bond of Rs100,000 and directed him to appear before the court again.

A terrorism case was registered against Imran Khan in Margalla police station for allegedly using derogatory language and threatening Additional Session Judge Zeba Chaudhry in his speech in Islamabad on August 20.