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Anti Terrorism Court declares Zaman Park search warrant invalid

DTD-May 30, 2023

2 minutes read

PTI chief Khan had moved ATC against search warrants,

Imran submits surety bonds in May 9 violence, Zille Shah cases,

Lahore_ATC Judge Abhar Gul Khan announced the reserved verdict on the PTI chief’s plea, noting that one-time search warrants are not for forever.An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore Tuesday declared Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s Zaman Park residence search warrant “ineffective”.

ATC Judge Abhar Gul Khan, while announcing the reserved verdict on the PTI chief’s plea, said one-time search warrants are not for forever.

The PTI chief had moved the court three days back against the search warrants, naming the state, commissioner of Lahore, DIG operations Lahore, SSP operations Lahore, and others as respondents.

In the plea, the PTI chief claimed that law enforcement personnel secured the warrants with “malicious intent”.

“It is most respectfully prayed that the search warrant relating to petitioner’s house situated at Zaman Park, Lahore may kindly be set-aside /cancelled/recalled being illegal, unlawful, inappropriate which lacks the requisite legal parameters for a valid warrant in the interest of justice and fair play,” he said in the plea.

Urging the court to take strict action against the respondents, Khan asked the court to deal with them severely for “their unlawful and illegal misuse of authority under the pretext of the search warrant”.

Earlier,

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan on Tuesday submitted surety bonds at an anti-terrorism court in Lahore in three cases relating to May 9 violence.

Advocate Habib submitted the bonds on behalf of the PTI chief who arrived in court with his legal team.

ATC Judge Ijaz Ahmad Buttar had granted bail to Imran in three cases linked to the May 9 violence until June 2, on condition of submitting surety bonds of Rs100,000 each.

The three ATC cases against Mr Khan were registered at different police stations in Lahore following the instances of arson that occurred on May 9 after the PTI chief was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the £190 million case.

Following the submission of the bail bonds to the court, the PTI chief proceeded to the Lahore High Court to fulfill the same requirement in a case. The case pertains to the distortion and hiding of evidence about the alleged murder of PTI worker Zille Shah.

The LHC had already granted Mr Khan pre-arrest bail in the case till June 2.

Prior to Mr Khan’s arrival at the ATC, a petition was filed before ATC Judge Abhar Gul Khan requesting permission for Mr Khan’s vehicle to enter court premises.

The petition cited the “danger” to the PTI chief’s life as the reason for the request. Subsequently, permission was granted and a car with jammers along with other security vehicles left Zaman Park for court.