Banking court rejects exemption plea, summons Imran today

A banking court in Islamabad on Wednesday rejected Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan's plea for exemption from appearance and ordered him to appear before the court by 3:30pm. Banking court judge Rakhshanda Shaheen heard the case of prohibited funding against Imran Khan and others. During the proceedings today, Imran Khan's lawyer Barrister Salman Safdar appeared before the judge alongside PTI leaders Shibli Faraz, Azam Swati, Faisal Javed, Senator Saifullah Niazi, Aamir Kayani and others. At the outset of the hearing, the judge ordered all media persons and other personalities to leave the courtroom, except for the lawyer and the petitioner. Barrister Safdar submitted a request for Imran's leave of absence on medical grounds to the court. After the judge observed that Imran's legal team has challenged her previous order in the high court, Imran's lawyer said that if she would listen to their appeal "and give relief on the matter" then the high court case would not be pursued. "You have challenged my order, so by all means pursue it," she remarked. Barrister Safdar urged the court to keep "an open mind". "Imran Khan is over 70 years old," the lawyer argued adding that he was still recovering from a bullet wound on his leg, and urged the court to grant him another three weeks' time. The lawyer also said that should the court reject the request, it would have to provide in writing that "our medical report is incorrect, and that Imran Khan was not shot". He also stressed that Imran was presently not in the capital and expressed fears that if Imran's bail is cancelled then he will be arrested. Later, the co-accused PTI's financier Tariq Shafi's lawyer began presenting his arguments but the court prevented him from doing so. "You are giving an irrelevant argument," the judge said, "this is a case concerning bail. I will not give any other observations, it will remain a bail case". Later, once the arguments were completed by special prosecutor Rizwan Abbasi, the judge dismissed Imran's request for leave and ordered him to appear before the court. It may be noted that previously, the PTI chief had secured bail in the case registered under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act in October last year. However, the bail is now to be cancelled if the PTI chief fails to ensure his appearance in court today (Wednesday). According to sources, the PTI's legal team has contacted Imran Khan and it maintains that it will not be possible for the PTI chief to appear before the court today. The case The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had booked PTI leaders including party chairman Imran Khan, the party’s financial team and a manager of a private bank in the prohibited funding case. The case was lodged by FIA Commercial Banking Circle Islamabad. Read PTI approaches IHC against ECP's prohibited funding case verdict According to a first information report (FIR), the former ruling party leaders have violated the Foreign Exchange Act and they were declared as the beneficiaries of suspicious bank accounts. The FIA claimed that Abraaj Group also transferred $2.1 million to the bank accounts of the PTI. The agency kicked off its probe against the PTI in August this year after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had declared in its verdict that the party had indeed received illegal funding. The case had been filed by PTI's founding but disgruntled member Akbar S Babar and had been pending since November 14, 2014. The written order of the ECP stated that the political party had received illegal funds from foreign countries, including the US, UAE, UK and Australia. The PTI chief on the other hand had maintained that the FIA ​​had misused its authority to register the case in haste and that the case was registered on the basis of the ECP report which is contrary to facts and biased.

from Latest News, Breaking News & Top News Stories | The Express Tribune https://ift.tt/HzTi5VS