In response to the petitions for acquittal filed by Bushra Bibi and Imran Khan, the founders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), in the Toshakhana-II case, the Islamabad High Court on Thursday sent notifications to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and other parties.
Hearing the applications was Justice Raja Inam Ameen Minhas of the IHC. The judge said that there is no legal precedent for halting criminal proceedings at this point when Salman Safdar, Imran Khan’s attorney, requested a stay order on the trial in the Toshakhana-2 case during the hearing.
The court would also hear the other party and send notices regarding the petition, Justice Minhas noted.
Since Justice Gul Hassan Aurangzeb had previously heard five petitions pertaining to this case, Safdar later also filed a motion to transfer the case to another bench, stating that it would be proper to send the acquittal petitions to him for additional hearing.
According to Justice Minhas, who dismissed his plea, the petitions considered by Justice Aurangzeb were bail requests. This was a different issue, he remarked, and he would consider the case. He gave the attorney instructions to argue the case’s merits.
The PTI lawyer later pleaded the high court to halt proceedings of the trial court. The judge replied that suspects had already been indicted, and witnesses were testifying.
He noted that it would not be appropriate to issue any such order at this stage, adding that he would issue notices and the case would not be adjourned for a long period.
The court then issued a notice to the FIA and adjourned the hearing until Jan 28.
