PM Khan exempted from personal appearance in terror cases

–Court also accepts exemption requests by foreign and finance ministers in PTV and Parliament House attack cases

ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Tuesday granted Prime Minister Imran Khan permanent exemption from personal appearance in cases pertaining to attacks on the Parliament House and the Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) building in 2014.

The ATC also accepted exemption requests submitted by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Finance Minister Asad Umar, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jehangir Tareen and other party leaders.

On Tuesday, ATC Judge Syed Kausar Abbas Zaidi had summoned all the accused in court.

PM’s counsel Dr Babar Awan appeared before Judge Zaidi and submitted Khan’s exemption request. Awan stated that he would represent the prime minister in future hearings, however, the premier will appear before the ATC when required.

Awan argued, “If there is more than one accused in a case then the suspects can be exempted from appearing.”

The prosecutor replied, “We have no reservations in granting PM Imran exemption from appearing.”

Awan also submitted an affidavit in court which nominated him as the prime minister’s counsel in the case.

On Friday, PM Imran directed the PTI’s legal team to file acquittal pleas in the cases registered against party leaders under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) during the 2014 sit-in.

The prime minister and other party leaders, including President-elect Dr Arif Alvi, Umar and Qureshi, are accused of attacking the Parliament and PTV office during the 2014 sit-in in Islamabad.

The PTI and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) leaders were booked after they marched towards the Parliament and PM House during the 2014 sit-in, in an attempt to topple the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government after the Model Town incident. They also clashed with policemen along their way.

The clash had resulted in the deaths of three participants of the sit-ins. Hundreds, including demonstrators and police officials, had been wounded. The transmission of PTV News and PTV World had been cut off for almost half an hour before the Army had cleared the building.

In February, Imran had appeared before an ATC in four cases, including the PTV and Parliament attack case and the SSP Asmatullah Junejo torture case. During the hearing, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief had requested an exemption from the court.