Pakistan court issues non-bailable arrest warrant against Imran Khan for threatening female judge

Islamabad: A court in Pakistan on Monday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against ousted prime minister Imran Khan for threatening a woman magistrate while addressing a public gathering here last year.

Senior civil judge of Islamabad's district and sessions court Rana Mujahid Rahim has instructed the police to arrest the former prime minister and present him before the court by March 29.

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, Imran 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, the 70-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician has heavily criticised the state institutions after a botched attempt by police to arrest him from his residence in the Zaman Park area of Lahore on the weekend.

The police raid unfolded on March 5 after a court in Islamabad issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Khan in the Toshakhana case.

Separately, Judge Zafar Iqbal of the district and sessions court in Islamabad took up the Toshakhana case against Khan on Monday.

The PTI chief has been 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.

The Islamabad court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant in the Toshakhana case against Khan last month for his repeated failure to appear before the court.

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.