High drama ensues as ex-Pak PM Imran Khan reaches Lahore HC ahead of possible arrest

As former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan reached Lahore High Court, high drama unfolded on Monday, February 20. Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) supporters gathered in large numbers outside the High Court to voice their support in favor of their chairman before the hearing of Khan's bail plea. The plea is in connection with a case linked to violent protests outside the office of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) after the poll body disqualified Khan in a prohibited funding case in 2022. 

Imran Khan reaches Lahore High Court

Earlier today, the PTI through a tweet had informed that Khan would be present for his bail hearing, and for the same, he would reach the Court at 4 pm (Pakistan Standard Time). Leaders of the PTI, like Hammad Azhar, on the microblogging site, shared regular updates of the party chairman's movement. 

چئیرمین عمران خان ہائی کورٹ پیش ہوں گے ۔
انشااللّہ 4 بجے ہائی کورٹ پہنچ جائیں گے۔ حماد اظہر pic.twitter.com/iD4RY89THU

— PTI (@PTIofficial) February 20, 2023

When the former Pakistan Prime Minister departed from Zaman Park for the Court, his cavalcade was followed by thousands of his supporters, who cheered for him all through the way. 

چیئرمین عمران خان کی زمان پارک سے لاہور ہائیکورٹ روانگی کے مناظر۔ #لاہور_ہائیکورٹ_پہنچیں pic.twitter.com/0ShsuKyIBp

— PTI (@PTIofficial) February 20, 2023

Khan vulnerable to arrest

Khan had moved the Lahore Court after the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Islamabad last week rejected his request for an extension in his interim bail. Khan has been on bail on medical grounds as he recuperates from the bullet injuries he sustained in an assassination attempt in Wazirabad during a rally on November 3, 2022.

The judge, Raja Jawad Abbas of the ATC, refused to accept the plea of the PTI chairman for one-time exemption from in-person appearance and ordered he must appear, stating that the court cannot give any relief to a “powerful person” like him which is not given to a common person. This made the former Pakistan Prime Minister vulnerable to arrest.