Kolkata: The Election Commission of Pakistan on Thursday issued a bailable arrest warrant for former crickter-turned-politician Imran Khan for his role in a contempt of court case on Thursday.
The poll panel was hearing a case against the legendary all-rounder filed by Akbar S Babar, a founding member of the Tehreek-e-Insaf. Khan had been summoned by the court to appear before it on september 25 but he failed to do so, resulting in violation of the Commission’s order.
However, Khan’s lawyer, Babar Awan argued that the legendary cricketer had been out of the country and had recently returned to Pakistan.
To this the counsel for the petitioner replied, “Had he (Imran Khan) respected the institutions, he would have been present here,” arguing that the Election Commission’s orders have been violated. He also complained that the despite several orders by the panel to Imran, the former skipper had been ignoring it.
The Commission then proceeded with the hearing and reserved its judgement on the contempt case. At the same time, it also issued a bailable arrest warrant against Khan, who is also the member of the national assembly, while also ordering him to be present in person before the court on September 25.
The order also had it written that Khan have to pay a surety bond of Rs. 100,000 to avoid arrest until September 25 and also be present for the hearing next time.
Earlier, the 64-year-old had accused the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for being biased in a case pertaining to the foreign funding of his party. He had also objected the Commission’s jurisdiction of initiating a contempt case against him.
The ECP in turn had issued him a show-cause notice asking him to reply by August 23. It then went ahead and issued a second show-cause notice after Khan failed to reply to the same within the given time.