Apex court stops authorities from arresting PTI Chairman Imran Khan in lawyer Abdul Razzaq Shar’s murder case till Aug 9

ISLAMABAD, July 24 (SABAH): The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday barred authorities from arresting Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan till August 9 in a case pertaining to the murder of lawyer Abdul Razzaq Shar in Quetta.

A three-member bench led by Justice Yahya Khan Afridi and comprising Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Justice Mussarat Hilali issued the directives while hearing Imran Khan’s plea seeking to quash the case.

On June 6, Abdul Razzaq Shar was fatally shot by unidentified assailants near Alamo Chowk on Airport Road. According to the police, the attack occurred while he was en route to the Balochistan High Court (BHC), targeted by unknown individuals wielding automatic weapons.

The government and the PTI had traded blame over the incident, with both sides accusing the other of having a role in the killing. Prime minister’s aide Attaullah Tarar Advocate had alleged that the lawyer was killed at the behest of Imran Khan to allegedly evade accountability in a treason case while PTI Spokesperson Raoof Hassan had accused Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah of being behind the murder.

It may be recalled that Shar had filed a constitutional petition against the PTI chief in the Balochistan High Court, seeking proceedings against the ex-premier under Article 6 that pertained to high treason.

Subsequently, a first information report (FIR) was registered on the complaint of Shar’s son, Advocate Siraj Ahmed, at Quetta’s Shaheed Jamil police station against Imran.

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) had subsequently issued Imran’s arrest warrants in the case, which were later upheld by the BHC. Imran had then approached the apex court to quash the FIR registered against him.

During the previous hearing on July 20, the bench had directed the ex-premier to submit before it in person before asking for the annulment of the FIR and warrants of arrest.

Imran Khan appeared before the SC bench during Monday’s hearing alongside his lawyers. At the outset of the hearing, the Balochistan advocate general urged the SC to instruct the petitioner to appear before the joint investigation team (JIT) tasked with probing the murder.

In response, Justice Afridi stated that the court would not issue such an order at this stage. “On what grounds do you wish to include the PTI chairman in the investigation?” asked Justice Naqvi.

The advocate general said that the FIR justified the PTI chief’s inclusion in the probe.

While rejecting the Balochistan government’s request, the court also rejected Imran’s plea for adjourning the hearing to a later date. Justice Afridi remarked that the investigation report in the case had been submitted and the court had to examine the facts.

The court directed the PTI chief to appear at the next hearing scheduled for August 9.

Imran Khan had moved the SC to quash the FIR that nominated him in the murder case of the advocate Shar. Besides bail in the case, he also requested to set aside the Balochistan High Court’s (BHC) decision to reject a similar petition.

However, the two-member bench of the SC comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsen and Justice Ayesha A Malik rejected Khan’s bail plea and refused to suspend the BHC’s order without hearing other parties in the matter.

The court held that a two-member bench of the apex court could not suspend the order passed by the learned high court’s two-member bench, directing the PTI chief to approach the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) for fixation of the case before a three-member bench.

Prior to Monday’s hearing, the lawyer for Balochistan Inspector General (IG) Abdul Khalique Shaikh submitted the investigation report in the case with the apex court.

The report gave a synopsis of the case, saying that the slain lawyer’s son believed that Imran and his party workers had killed his father because of the petition he had filed with the BHC. It added that the son was told by Shar a day before the incident took place that he had been receiving “threats of dire consequences” after filing the petition.

The report further said that three others — Asghar Ali, Najab Ali and Sardar Khan — were also nominated in the case later.

The report said that the investigation officer then carried out all legal formalities of the initial probe, and also collected evidence which was later sent for analysis. The statements of the eye witness and the circumstantial witness were also recorded, it said.

“Geo-fencing was also carried out and the call detail record (CDR) of the phone number of the eye witness and the deceased were obtained. The CCTV footage of the nearby places of the crime scene was also obtained and sent for analysis to Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA),” it said.

The report further noted that a seven-member joint investigation team (JIT) was formed in the case and its first meeting was held on June 12 where the case record was scrutinised.

The report said that the seventh meeting of the JIT was held on July 17. It said accused Asghar and Najab were not found in their homes and notices were again displayed on their doors but they failed to appear. It said that the PTI chief was also told to appear at the next meeting, which was scheduled for July 21.

“So far, arrest of the accused and further investigation is under way. All resources are being used for the said purpose,” the report said.

Separately, Inspector General of Balochistan Police submitted the investigation report to the Supreme Court in lawyer Abdul Razzaq Shar murder case.

The report said that the victim was being threatened over a petition filed in the apex court on Article 6.

In the report submitted by Balochistan IG, the apex court was told that during the investigation, a seven-member JIT was formed by the Ministry of Interior under the chairmanship of CTD DIG on June 8, which has held 8 meetings so far.

The report stated that it was decided to call the accused in the first meeting of the JIT. Summons were sent to PTI chairman PTI on June 19.

Despite several notices, the PTI chairman did not join the investigation. It was decided to include four suspects including PTI chairman in the investigation.

According to the report, statements of the deceased’s wife and two brothers had also been recorded, while the investigation was still ongoing.

Meanwhile the PTI chief was hounded by reporters during Monday’s court appearance, who questioned him about recent political developments before the judges entered the courtroom.

He was asked about the possibility of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar being appointed the caretaker prime minister, to which he retorted: “There can be no bigger joke than that.”

He was also asked whether anyone had made any “backdoor contact”, to which he responded in the negative.

Asked about his “expectations” from the SC, Imran said: “I expect justice from the Supreme Court.”

As for his expectations from Chief Justice-designate Qazi Faez Isa, Imran paused for a moment before saying, “Let’s see what happens.”

Separately, Imran Khan approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking details of the criminal cases filed against him in the capital.

Filed through his lawyer Advocate Sher Afzal Marwat, the petition named the federal government, Islamabad Inspector General (IG) Dr Akbar Nasir Khan and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) as respondents.

In the plea, the PTI chief requested the IHC to direct the respondents to furnish the details of “all the cases, FIRs, or inquiries” registered or reinitiated against him in the past 30 days.

It further requested the court to bar the respondents from arresting Imran in any new case till he had access to justice by approaching the court concerned.

The plea argued that it was required under Article 10A (right to fair trial) of the Constitution that investigations be conducted in a fair manner and “every accused has a fundamental right to due process of law”.