The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday issued bailable arrest warrants for former prime minister Imran Khan and other top leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in contempt of court case, news agency PTI reported.
The case was registered after top Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leaders made controversial remarks against the electoral body and Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja.
A four-member ECP bench headed by Nisar Durrani gave the verdict against Khan and his close aides – his party’s General Secretary Asad Umar, and Vice President Fawad Chaudhry.
“The Election Commission has issued arrest warrants for Imran Khan, me, and Fawad Chaudhry. Instead of conducting their own election, they are engaged in these tasks. They themselves are guilty of contempt of court by not holding the Islamabad elections,” Asad Umar tweeted in Urdu.
الیکشن کمیشن نے وارنٹ گرفتاری جاری کر دیئے عمران خان صاحب، میرے اور فواد چوہدری کے. اپنا الیکشن کروانے کا کام کرنے کے بجائے ان کاموں میں لگے ہوئے ہیں. خود یہ توہینِ عدالت کے مرتکب ہیں اسلام آباد الیکشن نہ کروا کر
— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) January 10, 2023
Khan has been criticising the conduct of the commission and Raja since its government was removed in April. He described Raja as a “puppet” of the ruling Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) alliance and “biased” against his party.
According to PTI, the election watchdog had issued notices against them in August and September last year in the exercise of its powers of contempt after the PTI leaders repeatedly bashed the commission and Raja over what they claim is their partisan policy and their alleged favouring of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
At the previous hearing, the ECP had given the PTI leaders a last chance to appear before it.
During the hearing on Tuesday, the commission rejected the pleas for their exemption from appearance and issued arrest warrants against surety bonds worth Rs 50,000 each, PTI reported.
The bench adjourned the hearing till January 17.
Khan has been asking the ECP chief to resign for allegedly failing to play the role of a neutral election commissioner. The chief rejected the calls by asserting he was working as per law.
(With inputs from PTI)
