An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Rawalpindi on Friday dismissed the plea seeking Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s personal appearance in the General Headquarters (GHQ) attack case related to May 9 violent protests.
Judge Amjad Ali Shah heard the case at ATC Rawalpindi and rejected PTI’s plea for Khan’s personal appearance.
“As per the Punjab government notification, the PTI founding chairman will appear through video link only,” the judge remarked. The development comes two days after the Punjab government cancelled the jail trial of all May 9 cases, including the GHQ attack case, and withdrew its earlier notification.
As per the new notification, the former chairman will attend proceedings via video link, while the remaining accused will appear in person before the court.
During Friday’s proceedings, Imran Khan joined through video link after three attempts. At 10:30am the court was informed he would appear at 11am, and he eventually joined at 11:25am. During the hearing, Imran’s counsel Faisal Malik requested a private conversation with Khan, which the court allowed. However, during the proceedings, the PTI founding chairman started a political discussion instead of addressing legal points. Counsel Faisal Malik informed Imran Khan that they are challenging the video link notification in court and sought the latter’s instructions for Friday’s proceedings.
“We are challenging the video link notification in the high court,” Imran’s counsel informed the court and boycotted proceedings. Despite the boycott, the ATC continued proceedings and recorded testimonies of two prosecution witnesses – Sub-Inspector Saleem Qureshi and Sub-Inspector Manzoor Shehzad.
Subsequently, the court adjourned the hearing until September 23 and summoned 10 witnesses from the FIA, PEMRA, PID, Internal Security, and the Ministry of Interior in the next hearing.
Imran was indicted in the case on December 5 last year. The PTI founder, who has been incarcerated in Adiala Jail since August 2023, was arrested by the Rawalpindi police in the May 9 protest case in January 2024.