The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday ordered authorities to remove sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) from the case against PTI Chairman Imran Khan for threatening a female judge while announcing a guilty verdict aimed at dismissing the case.
A two-judge bench headed by IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Athar Minallah reserved the verdict on a petition by PTI earlier in the day.
Khan was booked in a case under sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ACT) for making threatening remarks against the Additional Sessions Judge and senior officials of the Islamabad Police in his speech at a rally.
The party proposed the IHC to grant transit bail to Khan, but the court directed the former prime minister to approach the ATC as it was a terror case.
The FIR registered against Khan states that he threatened Additional Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry and policemen at a rally at F-9 Park to "terrorize" police officials and the judiciary.
The main objective was to prevent the police and the judiciary from fulfilling their legal duties, the FIR said. The FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint by Justice Ali Javed at the Islamabad police station in Margalla under Section 7 of the ATA.
Today's hearing
At the beginning of the hearing, IHC CJ Minallah questioned the views expressed by the joint investigation team (JIT) at the beginning of the hearing.
Responding to a question, Special Public Prosecutor Rizwan Abbasi argued that the SVT was of the view that sections of the ATA applied to the former prime minister's statement.
However, Imran Khan's lawyer countered this argument, saying that there were some basic factors needed to justify a charge of terrorism and that those factors were absent in the case.
"A case of terrorism can be made for creating an atmosphere of fear and terror, not for being able to create such an atmosphere," he said.
He said that Imran Khan talked about taking legal action and filing a case against the IG and DIG and claimed that the individuals concerned should have filed a case.
He said there was a "mastermind" behind this computerized complaint against Imran Khan, which was written with patience.
Abbasi read out the controversial parts of Imran Khan's speech in the court regarding IHC CJ Minallah's directive.
"Is that all, or is there something else that is controversial? It would open the floodgates if you filed such cases through speeches," the justice said.
He said parts of the ATA have been abused in the past.
Prima facie, not a single part included in the case is applicable [to Imran Khan's speech]," the court observed but good.
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