Imran Khan fails to appear before JIT for third time in terror case

PTI Chairman Imran Khan has yet again failed to appear before the Islamabad Police's joint investigation team (JIT) in the terror case filed against him despite being summoned for the third time.

After the Islamabad High Court's (IHC) orders, the head of the JIT — for the third time — issued a notice to Khan, directing him to report to Islamabad's Margalla Police Station, today at 6pm. The PTI chief, however, did not show up.

Read more: Imran Khan to 'accept' any verdict by IHC CJ

Last week, the IHC had asked the former premier to ensure cooperation with the police during the probe of the contempt of court case lodged against him for threatening a lower court judge, Zeba Chaudhry.

Khan, according to the notice, must appear before the JIT and respond to queries regarding the charges levelled against him. The notice also stated that despite the orders of the IHC, the former PM neither appeared before the JIT nor clarified his position in the case.

The JIT — in the recent notice — mentioned that Khan was summoned on September 9 and 10 for the investigation of the case as well and the JIT waited for his arrival at the designated time, but he never showed up.

Although Khan did not appear before the JIT, he submitted a reply on Friday (September 9) through his lawyer stating that the threats issued to a female judge in a rally do not fall under “terrorism” and the case should be dismissed as he is “innocent”.

“I am the chairman of Tehreek-e-Insaf, I have been the prime minister of Pakistan, the government tortured [my aide] Shahbaz Gill due to political opposition, the report filed in the Islamabad High Court proved the torture of Shahbaz Gill,” Khan told the JIT in the letter.

The PTI leader added that what he said in the speech cannot be categorised as terrorism, adding that he neither committed any illegal acts nor harmed anyone.

Khan's contempt of court case

A first information report (FIR) was registered against the former prime minister on August 21 under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) for threatening the additional sessions judge and senior police officers of the Islamabad Police at a rally in the federal capital’s F-9 Park.

The FIR was registered on the complaint of magistrate Ali Javed at Islamabad's Margalla Police Station under Section 7 of ATA.

Read more: IHC to indict Imran Khan in contempt case on Sept 22

Following this, Khan managed to secure transit bail till August 25 from the IHC but was asked to approach the ATC as it was the relevant forum. Then, the trial court extended the interim bail till September 12 in the terrorism case.