The Supreme Court on Monday barred police from arresting until Aug. 9 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in a case pertaining to the murder of lawyer Abdul Razzaq Shar in Quetta.
The stay order was issued by a three-member bench led by Justice Yahya Afridi and comprising Justices Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Mussarat Hilali, who were hearing Khan’s plea to quash the case.
Lawyer Shar was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Quetta on June 6 while traveling to the Balochistan High Court (BHC). In the aftermath, prime minister’s aide Attaullah Tarar alleged the lawyer had been killed at the behest of Khan because Shar had filed a treason case against the PTI chief over the May 9 riots. At the same time, PTI spokesperson Raoof Hassan accused Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah of being responsible.
Police in Quetta registered a first information report (FIR) on the complaint of Shar’s son, Advocate Siraj Ahmed, against Imran Khan a day later. An anti-terrorism court subsequently issued arrest warrants for Khan, which were upheld by the BHC. Khan then approached the apex court to quash the FIR registered against him. In its last hearing on July 20, the bench had directed Khan to submit himself to the mercy of the court in person before seeking any relief in the case.
Today’s hearing
At the outset of today’s hearing, which Khan attended alongside his legal team, the Balochistan advocate general urged the apex court to instruct the petitioner to cooperate with the joint investigation team (JIT) tasked with probing the murder. Justice Afridi said the court would not issue such an order at this stage, with Justice Naqvi questioning on what grounds the PTI chief was to be included in the investigation.
The advocate general responded that the FIR justified the PTI chief’s inclusion in the probe. The court rejected this request, while also rejecting Khan’s plea for the case to be adjourned to a later date. Justice Afridi observed that the investigation report of the case had been submitted to court and it would be examined to ascertain the facts. The court then directed the PTI chief to appear before it at the next hearing, scheduled for Aug. 9.
The investigation report submitted to the court by the Balochistan Inspector General has alleged that the slain lawyer’s son believed Khan and his party workers had killed his father because of the treason petition filed before the BHC. It claimed that Shar had told his son a day before his murder that he had been receiving “threats of dire consequences” after filing the petition. Apart from Khan, reads the report, Asghar Ali, Najab Ali and Sardar Khan have also been nominated in the case.
According to the report, all available evidence has been recorded and eyewitness statements recorded. It said the JIT tasked with probing the case had started work on June 12 and had already met seven times, adding that the PTI had been directed to appear in the last hearing on July 21 but had failed to do so.