Non-bailable arrest warrants issued against Imran Khan in Toshakhana case and for threatening woman judge

Islamabad: Two non-bailable arrest warrants were issued against ousted prime minister Imran Khan on Monday for failing to appear in courts in the Toshakhana case and for threatening a woman magistrate while addressing a public gathering here last year.

Khan, the 70-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician, who has been recovering from a gunshot injury from an assassination attempt in Wazirabad last year, has skipped indictment hearings in these cases.

The courts of Additional District and Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal (hearing the Toshakhana case) and Senior Civil Judge Rana Mujahid Rahim (hearing the threatening judge case) issued arrest warrants for Imran and instructed the police to present him before the courts on March 18 and March 21 respectively.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief was in the crosshairs for buying gifts, including an expensive Graff wristwatch he had received as the premier at a discounted price from the state depository called Toshakhana and selling them for profit.

Meanwhile, a team of Islamabad Police flew to Lahore to arrest Khan for threatening a woman judge after a district and sessions court issued his non-bailable arrest warrant for failing to attend the hearing in that case.

The case against Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was registered in August last year, over his remarks at a rally here, in which he warned Additional District and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry and top police officials of dire consequences for their "biased" attitude towards his party.

He also blamed them for the treatment meted out to his aide Shehbaz Gill, whom he alleged was subjected to torture in judicial custody.

Initially, Khan was booked under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code after the Islamabad High Court initiated contempt of court proceedings against the former premier.

In September last year, Khan appeared before the sessions judge to personally apologise to Chaudhry.

Consequently, the Islamabad High Court removed terrorism charges against Khan.

However, a similar case was filed against him after the FIR was registered.

Khan has heavily criticised the state institutions after a botched attempt by police to arrest him from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore earlier this month.

According to Khan, he was facing at least 80 different cases in various courts across Pakistan.

Khan was ousted from power in April last year after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China, and Afghanistan.