An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad on Tuesday reserved its verdict on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairperson Imran Khan’s acquittal plea in the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Asmatullah Junejo torture case.
Khan appeared before the ATC in four cases, including the PTV and parliament attack case and the SSP Junejo torture case.
Judge Shahrukh Arjumand reserved the verdict on the application filed under section 265-K of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) after hearing arguments from the defence counsel, Babar Awan, and the special public prosecutor Chaudhry Shafqaat.
On a lighter note, Awan told the court, “His name is Khan and he is not a terrorist.” Awan also added that Imran was not nominated by the witnesses themselves, adding that the witnesses had said that a mob beat up SSP Junejo. The court is expected to announce the judgment on April 23.
Earlier, the court had confirmed Imran’s pre-arrest bail in cases pertaining to the attack on the then SSP Junejo, PTV and parliament as well as a violation of the Loudspeaker Act during the 2014 sit-ins in the capital.
Political leaders and over a hundred workers and supporters of the PTI and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) were booked in the cases. The workers, who were arrested, were later released on bail.
On August 31, 2014, in an attempt to topple the PML-N government, the PTI and the PAT workers had marched on parliament and the PM House while clashing with policemen along the way. On September 1, 2014, hundreds of men, allegedly protesters from the PTI and PAT camps, allegedly ransacked the PTV office, parliament premises and brutally beaten up Junejo, less than 24 hours into his first day on the job as SSP operations. Imran, PAT chief Tahirul Qadri and several others were booked over their alleged involvement in the attack during the 2014 sit-ins in the capital.
Published in Daily Times, April 11th 2018.
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