Court orders Imran Khan to appear before investigation officer in prohibited funding case.

ISLAMABAD -- A banking court in Islamabad on Thursday directed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan to ensure his presence before the investigation officer (IO) in the prohibited funding case being pursued against his party.

In the bail plea, the PTI chief's lawyers had urged the court to stop the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from arresting Khan in the case pertaining to financial irregularities in the party's funding.

Today, the directive was issued as the court announced a reserved verdict on Khan's plea for an extension in pre-arrest bail.

At the outset of the hearing, Special Prosecutor Rizwan Abbasi requested the court to reject the former premier's plea, while the petitioner's lawyer asked the court to give a two-week extension on medical grounds.

Khan's lawyer also requested an exemption for the PTI chief to appear before the court for today's hearing.

The prosecutor maintained that Khan has been politically active since the assassination bid on his life during PTI's long march rally in Wazirabad in November.

"He is running the political affairs but doesn't appear in the court," Abbasi said while requesting the court to reject his plea for exemption.

He claimed that Khan neither appeared in the court nor joined the probe, asking the court to tell the investigation officer to visit the PTI chief at his Zaman Park residence in Lahore.

When asked about the reason for Khan's absence from investigations, his lawyer...