LHC suspends ECP's arrest warrants against Imran, Fawad.

The Lahore High Court's Rawalpindi Bench on Monday suspended the arrest warrants issued against PTI Chairman Imran Khan and party leader Fawad Chaudhry by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in cases related to its contempt.

On Jan 10, the ECP had issued bailable arrest warrants against Imran, Fawad and PTI Secretary General Asad Umar for failure to appear before the electoral body in a contempt case that was filed in August.

On Saturday, the PTI triad challenged the ECP's warrants, terming them 'illegal, unlawful and devoid of cogent and plausible reasoning'.

Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan presided over the hearing today while Advocate Faisal Chaudhry was present as Imran and Fawad's counsel.

At the outset of the hearing, the court directed the ECP to continue the hearing over its alleged contempt.

Meanwhile, Advocate Faisal asserted, 'We have been present in the proceedings of the election commission and will keep being so [but] the election commission is not a constitutional court [and] does not have the authority to issue arrest warrants.'

The judge responded by saying that the judiciary 'makes decisions based on the law and justice. You take relief from the judiciary and then target it as well in front of the media - this is contempt of court.

'If Fawad Chaudhry targets the judiciary again in front of the media, then the court will initiate contempt of court proceedings [against him].'

The LHC judge added that Fawad had recently put the entire blame for corruption on the judiciary during an interview with an international media outlet.

'Right now, the court is providing you relief but tell Fawad Chaudhry to not put the entire responsibility on the courts. Whenever he talks to the media, he holds the courts responsible [for corruption],' the judge said.

It is pertinent to mention that the LHC had suspended only Imran and Fawad's arrest warrants.

Advocate Faisal separately told Dawn.com that Umar's arrest warrant would be suspended as well but the official proceedings of his case will be dealt with in Karachi as his case was registered there.

The ECP vs PTI row

The ECP had initiated contempt proceedings against the PTI...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT