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The Pakistan government on Friday shifted the Toshakhana case hearing venue from the additional sessions court to a comparatively safer Judicial Complex, Pakistan-based Dawn newspaper reported.
This came after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) informed the Islamabad police about its concerns over the security of party chairman Imran Khan. The Chief Commissioner Office Islamabad issued a notification declaring Court No 1 Judicial Complex at G-11 as the venue for the hearing of the case filed by the district election commissioner against Khan, terming it a "one-time dispensation", according to Dawn. This came after PTI Senator Shibli Faraz met Inspector General of Police (IGP) Akbar Nasir Khan and made a formal demand to shift the venue due to security concerns. Imran Khan in his address on Thursday cited security reasons for not appearing before the court in the past which resulted in the issuance of his arrest warrants. Khan in his speech referred to a suicide attack on the F-8 courts in 2007, claiming that he had serious threats to his life. The police have chalked out a security plan under which they have decided to deploy personnel from Counter Terrorism Department, Anti-Riot Unit, Frontier Constabulary and Rangers around the Judicial Complex, according to Dawn. According to a police officer, over 1,000 personnel had been called to the capital from other districts for security duties. The roads adjacent to the Judicial Complex will be sealed by placing barbed wires and barricades, the officer said, adding that unauthorised people would not be allowed to enter the venue of the court hearing. Senator Shibli Faraz, while talking to Dawn said that he had made the demand for the shifting of the venue as the party believed that the F-8 venue could be a "death trap" for Khan. Besides this, he said the police were also facing a challenge in arranging security at the courts situated at F-8 Markaz. Khan who will appear in court today for the Toshakhana case, received protective bail in nine cases by the two-member bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) led by Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh. The protective bail was approved for five cases in Islamabad and three cases in Lahore. Khan secured bail in the cases filed in Lahore till March 27, whereas, the protective bail in five cases in Islamabad was approved till March 24. Moreover, the court also approved Khan's bail in the Sarwar Road police station case, according to ARY News. The high court also permitted the police to interrogate Imran Khan. The petition against the police operation was wrapped up by the court after directing the PTI to cooperate with the police in the investigation. (ANI)
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