Imran Khan orders to expel absent legislators on the day of voting on the 26th constitutional amendment. PHOTO: PIXABAY
LAHORE:
The Lahore High Court (LHC) has referred a petition by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder president Imran Khan, seeking only one case arising out of the May 9 incidents, to a two-judge bench for further hearing.
The court scheduled the next hearing before a two-member bench headed by Justice Shehbaz Rizvi on December 4.
During the hearing, Chief Justice Aaliya Neelum expressed her deep displeasure at the presence of an unusually large number of lawyers in the gallery.
The court ordered all lawyers except Latif Khosa to leave the stand, but some lawyers, notably Intizar Panjotha, later appeared despite the order.
The petitioners urged that multiple FIRs of the same nature should not give rise to multiple identical trials, and requested that the court order that only one trial be held in relation to the events of May 9.
The hearing was marked by visible irritation on the part of the court after numerous lawyers occupied the gallery.
CJ Aaliya Neelum, while addressing the courtroom, commented that the petition had attracted so many lawyers that it had effectively overloaded the rostrum: This petition is so important that so many lawyers have taken to the rostrum, she observed.
After ordering all lawyers except senior lawyer Latif Khosa to leave the platform, the court’s instructions were not fully heeded.
When lawyer Intizar Panjotha returned to the stand, the trial judge confronted Latif Khosa and asked him why other lawyers had appeared at his side. “It seems that you do not wish to follow the court’s instructions,” he said, pressing Khosa for an explanation.
The petition filed on behalf of the PTI founder contends that several First Information Reports (FIRs) containing the same or similar allegations arising out of the May 9 incidents should not give rise to separate and parallel criminal trials. The lawyer urged the LHC to order consolidation or allow a single trial on the common or main charges.
After hearing the opening arguments and taking note of the sensitivities involved, the court transferred the matter to the two-judge bench.
