ISLAMABAD, Mar 07 (APP): The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday issued bailable arrest warrants for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and former federal minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain in a case related to “contemptuous” remarks against the election watchdog.
The order was issued by a four-member bench comprising ECP members Nisar Ahmed Durrani, Shah Mohammad Jatoi, Babar Hasan Bharwana and Justice (retd) Ikram Ullah Khan after the PTI leaders failed to appear before it.
According to the ECP verdict, the bailable warrants would be executed through the Inspector General of Police, Islamabad.
and the leaders were required to submit a surety bond of Rs 50,000 each.
The Commission directed the Islamabad Police chief to ensure compliance of the warrant on March 14.
On the last date of the hearing, neither Imran appeared himself nor his lawyer, and “we have left with no alternative except to issue a bailable warrant of arrest against respondents in the sum of Rs50,000 (fifty thousand) with two sureties in the like amount each,” the ECP verdict said.
Earlier in August 2022, the ECP issued notices to Imran Khan and others for allegedly using “intemperate” language against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja and the electoral watchdog.
The PTI leaders repeatedly lambasted the Commission and termed the electoral body a “subsidiary of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz”.
On January 17, the Commission had reserved its verdict in the contempt case against Imran Khan and other party leaders, including Chaudhry Fawad and Asad Umar, after they failed to appear before it despite a final warning.
