Pakistan's former Prime minister Imran Khan summoned by anti-terrorism court in case related to May 9 protests

An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) of Rawalpindi has summoned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan in a case related to May 9 protests, Pakistan-based ARY News reported. According to details, former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has been summoned on January 9 in cases related to an attack on General Headquarters (GHQ). Notably, the PTI founder is the main accused in all the cases related to the May 9 protests.

Protests erupted across Pakistan after Imran Khan was arrested on May 9, 2023. The protests were held in remote and major cities as the PTI workers were angry after Imran Khan's arrest. The authorities in Balochistan, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad asked the armed forces to ensure law and order. Army installations, including the Corps Commander's house in Lahore, were also attacked during the protests by PTI workers. Imran Khan's party, in a post on X, formerly known as X, had urged Pakistanis to come out and protest against his arrest. "Pakistan, its your time now. It's now or never an opportunity. People must come out to defend their country now," PTI had posted on X. A number of PTI leaders and workers, including PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Yasmin Rashid, were arrested in connection with the May 9 protests.

On Thursday, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) approached the Supreme Court (SC) against the Peshawar High Court's (PHC) decision to restore an Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ruling revoking the party's 'bat' electoral symbol over discrepancies in holding intra-party elections, Dawn newspaper reported. On December 22, the ECP revoked the electoral symbol of PTI for the February 8 election, saying that it had failed to hold intra-party polls, which saw Barrister Gohar Khan becoming the PTI chairman in accordance with its prevailing constitution and election laws.

Earlier, the PTI had approached the PHC against the decision of the ECP and on December 26, a single-member bench of the high court ordered a temporary suspension of the ECP's decision, instructing the commission to publish PTI's intra-party poll certificate on its website and restore the party's election symbol 'bat'.

The ECP then filed an intra-court appeal in the PHC against the verdict. The PHC had accepted the commission's review plea and decided that the high court's interim order on December 26 was an "ex parte order" as the same was passed without providing any opportunity for a hearing to the commission. The order said: "Under the election laws, the whole exercise of holding and conducting an election i.e. right from the issuance of notification of holding an election till the publication of names of the successful; candidates in the official gazette, is a time-bound exercise, therefore, the said order has prima facie created hindrance in the smooth process of the election which is to be conducted by the ECP [...] on February 8," according to Dawn report.

"In view of the above, the interim order of this court passed in favour of the writ petitioner/ PTI is hereby recalled/vacated and consequently the ECP is directed to proceed with the election process as per its constitutional mandate as well as various orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan passed in respect of the ensuing election and it shall ensure to conduct and hold free, fair and transparent election," it added.