Imran to appear before IHC amidst strict security today

Former premier and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan will appear before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) today (Wednesday) amidst tight security. As per the security orders issued by the government earlier today, only lawyers on the cause list will be allowed to enter the high court after security checks, and the court has been secured by barbed wire. While SSP Operations Jameel Zafar has been assigned the primary responsibility of ensuring security outside the high court, three superintendents of police (SP), and nine additional and deputy SPs are providing their services in the court’s vicinity. Read IHC suspends PEMRA notification banning Imran's live speeches Additionally, at least a thousand junior rank officers and officials have been posted around the IHC, while the Security Division is responsible for providing security inside the court premises. The security order also stated that Safe City cameras will be used to surveil the area and that all officers and personnel posted on the ground will be unarmed barring those that have been assigned rooftop duties. Furthermore, 500 short-range and an additional 500 long-range armored vehicles have also been stationed carrying tear gas shells. Simultaneously, at least 3,000 shells and police vehicles are stationed in police lines. Tensions nonetheless remained high in the IHC after the deposed premier Imran Khan on Tuesday (yesterday) responded to a show-cause notice issued to him by the court in a contempt case and offered to “take back” the controversial remarks he had made against district and sessions judge Zeba Chaudhry during a PTI rally at F-9 Park in Islamabad earlier this month. Read More ECP asks Imran to submit reply in Toshakhana case on Sept 7 The PTI chief, in a provisional reply, had stated that due to “serious misunderstanding and misconception” he had misunderstood that Judge Zeba was not a judicial officer but an executive magistrate performing executive functions on the federal government's directions. The reply, submitted through Imran’s counsel Hamid Khan, had regretted that a wrong impression was taken from the PTI chief’s speech that he had threatened the female judge for approving PTI leader Shahbaz Gill’s physical remand. "Even otherwise, word ‘action’ used in the speech did not denote any ‘illegal/unlawful action’ against any person rather it was used for ‘legal’ and ‘lawful action’ which is right of every citizen of Pakistan,” the reply had stated.

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