LAHORE:
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday stopped the police operation at Imran Khan’s Zaman Park residence till the Islamabad High Court (IHC) gives its decision.
Earlier today, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) moved the LHC against the police operation at PTI chief Imran Khan’s Zaman Park residence, contending that the ‘lives of innocent people were being jeopardised’.
The petition comes after the face-off between police and PTI supporters continued for the second day as law enforcers made a fresh push to arrest Imran. Police resumed firing tear gas rounds at the defiant PTI workers and supporters and there were reports of fresh skirmishes.
PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry filed the petition, maintaining that the “illegal police operation was in progress since yesterday” and added that people had suffered significant injuries due to the use of ‘expired tear gas’ shells
The PTI leader also claimed in the petition that law enforces had used live ammunition, which led to panic among the people and Zaman Park was ‘converted into a battlefield’.
He continued that police officials, on the instruction of the caretaker government, were hellbent upon Imran’s arrest despite an undertaking, given by Imran, to police officials to ensure his appearance before the court.
Read Imran asks supporters to ‘carry on struggle’ even if killed or arrested
Earlier, Fawad and his legal team appeared before LHC’s Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti requesting him to halt the “illegal operation” at Zaman Park and further summon the Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Lahore to question why the neighborhood was turned into a battlefield.
Justice CJ Bhatti asked if there was a petition regarding the matter, to which Fawad replied that the PTI’s legal team was preparing the petition and would file it shortly.
When asked why he was discussing something that was not filed, Fawad stated that it was a “matter of humanity with people being injured and bullets being fired”.
Advocate Azhar Siddique informed the court that they had neither heard nor seen such action for complying with a non-bailable arrest warrant before.
Fawad requested that the court fix their petition as early as possible, to which Justice Bhatti remarked that there was a procedure in place that will be followed.
Source link: https://tribune.com.pk/story/2406206/lhc-stops-police-operation-at-imrans-zaman-park-residence