ISLAMABAD – Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has sent non-bailable arrest warrants on Tuesday to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan to SSP operations.
The SSP Operations Islamabad was directed to arrest Imran Khan and produce him before the commission on October 26 at 10 AM.
The warrant which are sent to Imran’s Khan’s Bani Gala and the PTI’s Central Office addresses states that the PTI chairman is charged with contempt of ECP’s section 103-A of the Representation of the People Act, 1976.
It further states that Khan has previously failed to appear before the Commission on many of his hearings, therefore the ECP has ordered the issuance of arrest warrant against him.
Similarly, ECP on October 12 issued a non-bailable arrest warrant in relation to the contempt of court orders against Imran Khan. In an announcement, PTI confirmed it will challenge the decision in the Islamabad High Court.
However, this isn’t the first time ECP has issued arrest warrants for the PTI chairman. On September 14, the ECP had issued bailable warrants against Khan to bring forward his case.
The ECP had also ordered Imran to submit a surety bond of Rs100,000 until September 25 and nominate two individuals can be held as guarantees.
The ECP had issued the contempt notice to Khan on January 24 over his “scandalous remarks” about the commission’s work.
However, the PTI approached the IHC on September 20, suspended the bailable arrest warrants.
Justice Aamer Farooq, who headed a three-member larger bench, directed the PTI chief to reply on the ECP’s show-cause notice. Babar Awan informed the court that the PTI chairman would reply to ECP’s show-cause notice soon.
