Rawalpindi:
The lawyer of former Prime Minister Imran Khan left on Tuesday of an anti -terrorism court (ATC) after the judge rejected his request to stop the procedures in a case until a superior court governs the legality of his decision to ensure the presence of Imran through a WhatsApp video chef.
During the hearing of the GHQ attack case of May 9 in which Imran Khan is one of the key defendants, there was an agreed argument between the defense, Imran’s advice, and the prosecution.
On behalf of Imran Khan, two requests were submitted: one that seeks CCTV transcripts and images of the September 19 procedures in which Imran Khan also appeared through WhatsApp, and another that requested the suspension of the trial until a superior court issues an order in the trial in jail.
One of Imran’s advice, lawyer Faisal Malik, argued that until they were allowed to consult with Imran Khan in private, the defense could not be part of the trial.
The judge replied that Imran had already been given the opportunity at the last hearing, but he had chosen boycotting the procedures. The Court advised the defense to challenge its decision and maintained that the procedures could not be stopped.
Prosecutor Ikram Amin Minhas said the defense had boycotted the last hearing, so the court did not have the obligation to entertain its objections. He accused the defense of losing his time deliberately, noting that the trial could not be arrested since the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses had to be registered.
Prosecutor Zaheer Shah added that there was no legal provision to stop the procedures, and question the judicial orders amounted to contempt. Malik replied that they only demanded a fair trial: “If the defendant cannot listen to his lawyer, or the lawyer cannot listen to his client, how is a fair trial?”
Prosecutor Shah argued that repeated boycots and new applications were simply U -turns, and under instructions from the Superior Court, images or transcripts could not be provided. He accused the defense of wanting excuses to portray themselves as victims in the media.
Imran’s main lawyer, Salman Akram Raja, emphasized that the courts should act under the Constitution, not government instructions: “It cannot be presented to a person locked in a cell by a WhatsApp call.”
The judge reiterated that the defense had the right to challenge orders in the Superior Court, but unless the Superior Court issued new addresses, the procedures would not stop.
The defense advises Salman Akram Raja and Faisal Muhammad Malik organized a strike in protest against the continuation of WhatsApp -based procedures. The founder of PTI, Imran Khan, appeared on the court through a WhatsApp video call, but after a few minutes I boycotted the procedures once again.
According to Raja, they could barely listen to Imran due to a bad connection and the call fell as soon as they announced the boycott.
Despite the strike, the court registered the statements of eight witnesses, including the additional director of Pemra, Nadir Khan, the technical assistants of the FIA, Anis-Ur-Rehman and Muhammad Imran, the directors of PID, Muhammad Tariq, and Hasin Wazir, two former commissioners attending Islamabad.
The advice of the founder of PTI, Salman Akram Raja and Faisal Malik, have formally challenged the procedures of the GHQ attack in the Rawalpindi Bank of the Superior Court of Lahore (LHC).
In their constitutional request, they argued that such procedures are unconstitutional, illegal and contrary to the principles of a right trial under article 10-A of the Constitution.
The petition seeks to have the video-Link/WhatsApp trial declared void and without void, and requires that Imran Khan produces before the Jail Adiala Court or that an open trial is held within the online jail facilities with the constitutional safeguards.
The petition also requests that all procedures carried out through WhatsApp call on September 19 and 23 are declared void.
He emphasizes that lawyers cannot properly consult with their client, nor can meetings take place, under a video link test. The petition recalls that the Superior Court of Islamabad had already scored a similar attempt in the case of encryption.
A bank of the LHC division comprising Judge Sadqat Ali Khan and Judge Muhammad Waheed Khan can take the petition today (Wednesday).
