Imran Khan arrest LIVE updates
Many senior leaders in the ruling coalition have accused the judiciary of ‘favouring’ former PM Imran Khan, being “involved in politics” and “backing the attackers of May 9”.
A resolution to file the reference against CJP Umar Ata Bandial was approved in the National Assembly during a joint session of parliament. A special parliamentary committee has been formed to prepare the reference. The proposal to send the reference was moved by defense minister Khawaja Asif.
Meanwhile, the PDM — an alliance of 13 political parties affiliated with the ruling Pakistan Muslim League — has launched a sit-in protest near the Supreme Court premises demanding action against Imran Khan in all the cases filed against him, including inciting violence after his arrest on May 9.
Here are the other developments:
Govt wants to keep me in jail for next 10 years: Khan
In a tweet on Monday, Imran Khan divulged about the “London plan” of Shehbaz Sharif government that aims to outlaw his party PTI, put his wife Bushra begum in jail, and use some sedition law to keep him inside for next ten years.
“So now the complete London plan is out. Using pretext of violence while I was inside the jail, they have assumed the role of judge, jury and executioner. The Plan now is to humiliate me by putting Bushra begum in jail, and using some sedition law to keep me inside for next ten years,” Imran Khan said in a tweet.
Notably, Shehbaz Sharif earlier decided to extend his stay for one more day on the directives of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif in London when he went for King Charles’s coronation.
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Tense Monday for Pakistan: Imran Khan’s call for ‘complete crackdown’ versus planned rally by key government ally
“Then will follow complete crackdown on whatever is left of PTI leadership and workers,” said Imran Khan.
He compared the possible ban on his party with that of Awami League in erstwhile East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. “And finally they will ban the largest and only federal party of Pakistan. (Just as they banned the Awami League in East Pakistan),” he tweeted.
Imran slams stir outside SC
Calling it a “drama”, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan criticised the president of the ruling alliance PDM (Pakistan Democratic Movement) for holding a sit-in outside the Supreme Court. He said the agitation was being done to pressurise the Chief Justice to not deliver the verdict according to the constitution.
Taking to Twitter, Khand said: “The JUIF Drama being done outside the SC is only for one purpose, to overawe the Chief Justice of Pakistan so that he doesn’t give a verdict according to the Constitution.”
Ruling alliance protests outside SC
Pakistan’s ruling coalition on Monday staged a demonstration outside the Supreme Court to protest against some of the recent rulings of the judiciary which they said provided blanket relief to former PM Imran Khan in a number of cases.
Demonstrators, belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), entered the Red Zone while the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) has set up a stage in front of the Supreme Court,
Earlier in the day, convoys of buses and vehicles filled with Pakistani government supporters flooded the main road leading to Islamabad.
The sit-in protest is a sign of escalating tensions between the judiciary and the government of PM Shahbaz Sharif, who replaced Khan after his ouster in a no-confidence vote in Parliament in April 2022.
The PDM, an alliance of 13 political parties affiliated with the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, had called for the sit-in. The radical Islamist political party Jamiat-e-Ulema-Islam is leading the protest call.
The sit-in is being held despite a ban on rallies and public gatherings in the national capital.
Imran Khan seeks bail in cases related to violence after his arrest
Amid tight security, Khan reached the Lahore High Court on Monday to seek bail in cases registered against him in connection with the violence that broke out after his arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust case on May 9.
The Punjab police had on May 10 booked Khan and hundreds of his party workers for attacking and setting on fire the Corps Commander House in Lahore besides registering five other FIRs against him for inciting his supporters to attack and damage state buildings and military installations.
Khan and his deputy Shah Mahmood Qureshi have been charged with murder, terrorism and 20 other heinous offences for the violence which ended in several deaths and dozens of military and state installations being destroyed by the protesters.
Khan’s wife gets bail in Al-Qadir Trust case
Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi, who accompanied the former PM to the high court on Monday, was granted bail until May 23 in connection with the Al-Qadir Trust graft case. Bushra Bibi is a co-accused along with Khan in the case.
(With inputs from agencies)