The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Lahore on Monday ordered that PTI founder and former premier Imran Khan undergo police polygraph and photogrammetry tests after his refusal.
The ATC allowed the police to conduct the polygraph (lie detection) and photogrammetric (facial and voice analysis) test on May 14, however, the ex-premier refused to undergo them.
Last week, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari had assailed the PTI founder for refusing the tests, saying that he either made excuses such as being asleep or eating or claimed that his lawyers were unavailable. She remarked that it appeared he had still not come to terms with being a convict serving court sentences in jail, and stressed that “he needed to understand he was in Adiala Jail, not at his Bani Gala residence.”
During the hearing, the police submitted a report to the judge about Imran’s refusal to take the test, arguing that the investigation could not be completed without the results.
Legal Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Javed Ahmed said, “The PTI founder has refused to conduct the polygraphic and photogrammatic test. He has refused to take the written test twice … [and] the oral test three times.
“We have to perform the polygraph and photogrammetry tests for the purpose of our investigation,” he stated.
The DSP told the court that police would cooperate with Imran, but stressed that he needed to cooperate with investigating officers, too.
“Justice will be seen,” he added.
The court ordered that the PTI founder take the tests and demanded that the results be submitted by June 9.
Imran, 71, has been imprisoned at the Adiala Jail for two years upon his conviction in four cases – two Toshakhana references, the cipher case, and the Iddat case, in which his wife, Bushra Bibi, is also jailed.
Imran’s sentences in the Toshakhana references were suspended while he was acquitted by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the cipher case in June. An Islamabad district and sessions court had also recently accepted the appeals filed by Imran and his spouse against their conviction in the Iddat case.
Various courts have also acquitted him in several other cases filed against him since the events of May 9, 2023 – the day when his first arrest had caused riots across the country, following which the state launched a crackdown against him and his party.