The Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan of Tuesday rejected Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s petition seeking to halt ongoing hearing in the murder case of senior lawyer Abdul Razzaq Shar in Quetta.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan and Justice Ayesha Malik heard the deposed premier’s plea.
During the hearing, the court stated that it could not issue a stay order since this petition had already been rejected by a two-member panel of the High Court.
Meanwhile, Mr Imran’s other plea to suspend non-bailable arrest warrants was also rejected by the top court.
The plea
Earlier on Monday, Imran Khan submitted a miscellaneous application earlier requesting an early hearing of the case.
In his application, Mr Khan highlighted that his protective bail, earlier granted by the Islamabad High Court, was expiring on Monday and due to security and other reasons he was unable to travel to Quetta.
Therefore, it is necessary to take up his pending petition for the suspension of further proceedings before the BHC as liberty and life of the applicant were at stake, it added.
Imran named in murder case
Shar’s son, Siraj Ahmed, filed a complaint against the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, accusing the ex-premier of abetting murder, saying he believed his father was killed in connection with the case he had filed against Khan.
“My father filed a case against Imran Khan under Article 6, and I am certain this is why [Khan] and his PTI people killed my father and spread terror,” Ahmed said in the statement, adding that his father had received death threats after filing his petition against Khan.
Shar had filed his petition last month with the Balochistan High Court, seeking proceedings against the former prime minister under Article 6 of Pakistan’s Constitution, which is connected to charges of high treason.
In his petition, Shar argued that Khan should be tried for treason due to his decision to dissolve the National Assembly in April last year to avoid a no-confidence motion meant to remove him as the prime minister.
