ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad District and Sessions Court on Tuesday granted relief to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan in two separate cases related to vandalism during the March 2022 long march, following the former prime minister’s acquittal plea.
Judicial Magistrate Shaista Kundi accepted Khan’s petitions and acquitted him in the cases registered at Lohi Bhair and Sihala police stations in Islamabad.
At the start of the hearing, Khan’s lawyer, advocate Naeem Panjotha, argued that the vandalism was carried out at the behest of his client, according to the case.
“Several cases were registered in a single day, PTI founder was [framed] in the same role,” he further argued.
He added that neither a notification was issued nor the participant informed about the enforcement of Section 144. The lawyer argued that the plaintiff is the Station House Officer (SHO) who has no jurisdiction to register the case.
“There are no witness statements in the cases against the PTI founder,” he further argued.
The judicial magistrate asked the counsel whether Khan had been acquitted earlier in cases, to which he replied, “The PTI founder has been acquitted in several cases even earlier.”
Following the arguments of the former prime minister’s legal representative, the court reserved the verdict, which was announced later.
