An anti-terrorism court in Islamabad on Thursday acquitted Prime Minister Imran Khan in the infamous Parliament attack case, as the prosecution had earlier backed the plea filed by the accused, reported 24NewsHD TV channel. The court verdict came after six years as the case was filed during PTI’s 2014 sit-in in Islamabad. Imran had already been acquitted in the SSP torture case. In this connection, Dr Tahirul Qadri of PAT (Pakistan Awami Tehreek) was earlier declared a proclaimed offender in the case. Meanwhile, President Arif Alvi had been exempted from any proceedings for enjoying the immunity because of being the head of the state.
However, the court summoned other accused in the case on the next hearing [November 12] for indictment, as PTI leaders Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Jahangir Tareen, Shafqat Mehmood and others are also nominated in the case. Commenting on the news, Ali Bokhari – a PTI lawyers’ wing leader – described the judgment as good news as he told the reporters outside the courtroom that the then government had tried to drag Imran into politically-motivated cases. Earlier on Monday, the anti-terrorism court reserved Monday its verdict on the acquittal plea filed by Imran. During proceedings, the prime minister’s counsel Babar Awan filed written arguments, saying that there was no evidence against his client’s involvement in the case and no eyewitness had come forward in the case. The statement read that the prosecution was not interested to prosecute the applicant. “The learned prosecutor appearing for the other side is heard and the learned prosecutor candidly conceded that in this false case the charge against the petitioner is groundless and there is no probability of the conviction and therefore, the learned prosecutor agreed that this is a fit case for acquittal.” On September 1, 2014, hundreds of people, allegedly supporting the PTI and the PAT, had ransacked the PTV headquarters and the Parliament premises, and brutally beaten up the SSP Operations.
Also Read: Pakistani TV Presenter Dr. Aruba’s Instagram Reaches One Million
