Court directs jail authorities to produce Imran Khan in judicial complex attack case

ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad on Monday ordered that PTI founder Imran Khan be produced before it at the next hearing in the judicial complex attack case, either in person or through a video link.

Judge Tahir Abbas Supra directed the authorities to ensure his appearance. The court also declared former ministers Farah Habib, Hammad Azhar, Murad Saeed and Shibli Faraz proclaimed offenders and sought details of their properties.

The court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for former Punjab Assembly deputy speaker Wasim Qayyum and PTI MPA Hassan Khan Niazi. It adjourned further proceedings until Nov 5. The case was registered at Ramna police station against PTI leaders over the attack on the judicial complex.

Prosecution and defence accounts

The case rests on sharply conflicting accounts from the prosecution, police, defence and judiciary.

State prosecutors and government officials, led by then interior minister Rana Sanaullah, attributed the violence to Imran, alleging the party leadership organised a “planned attack” to “intimidate the judiciary” and pressure the courts into favourable rulings.

Islamabad police backed this position in first information reports registered at the Ramna and Counter-Terrorism Department police stations. The FIRs charge Imran and senior party leaders, including Asad Umar, Hammad Azhar and Ali Amin Gandapur, with terrorism, arson, rioting and attempted murder, alleging they incited workers to breach security gates and assault police personnel.

Imran and his defence team, including lawyers Salman Safdar and Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, rejected all charges. They attributed the chaos to heavy-handed tactics and “state provocation” by law enforcement, which they say was meant to entrap or arrest him.

Separately, trial court judges, among them Additional Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal, recorded in earlier proceedings that the security breakdown and violent atmosphere outside the facility made normal physical hearings unsafe. The court accordingly marked Imran’s attendance from his vehicle.