Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry on Tuesday announced to challenge arrest warrants issued for PTI chairman Imran Khan and other party leaders.
In his tweet, Fawad Chaudhry said issuance of arrest warrants is contempt of court. The case was fixed for hearing on January 17, but the hearing was held against rules and regulations today, he added.
Fawad also announced to challenge ECP’s move in the high court.
الیکشن کمیشن کا قابل ضمانت وارنٹ جاری کرنے کا فیصلہ ہائیکورٹ کے فیصلے کی توہین ہے، کیس کی تاریخ 17 جنوری گھی جس کو رولز کے خلاف آج مقرر کرکے فیصلہ دیا گیا یہ الیکشن کمیشن کے ان بونے ممبران کا ایک اور جانبدار فیصلہ ہے، اس فیصلے کے خلاف ہائیکورٹ میں توھین عدالت کا مقدمہ کریں گے
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) January 10, 2023
Reacting to the development, Asad Umar tweeted that the ECP, instead of fulfilling its responsibilities, had indulged in such actions. “They themselves are guilty of contempt of court by not holding Islamabad elections,” he said.
الیکشن کمیشن نے وارنٹ گرفتاری جاری کر دیئے عمران خان صاحب، میرے اور فواد چوہدری کے. اپنا الیکشن کروانے کا کام کرنے کے بجائے ان کاموں میں لگے ہوئے ہیں. خود یہ توہینِ عدالت کے مرتکب ہیں اسلام آباد الیکشن نہ کروا کر
— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) January 10, 2023
Meanwhile, PTI lawyer Babar Awan claimed that the ECP was being used to run a campaign against Imran.
“They are just trying to somehow disqualify him. But let me tell you, this minus-one formula won’t work on Imran Khan,” he told reporters outside a court in Islamabad.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday issued bailable arrest warrants for PTI chairman Imran Khan and party leaders Fawad Chaudhry and Asad Umar in cases related to the contempt of the electoral body.
Read: Contempt case: ECP issues arrest warrants for Imran Khan, other PTI leaders
The order was passed by a four-member ECP bench headed by member Nisar Durrani.
The ECP had in August and September last year issued notices, in exercise of its powers of contempt, to Imran, Umar, Chaudhry, Mian Shabbir Ismail and Danial Khalid Khokhar for allegedly using “intemperate” language against Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja and the electoral watchdog.
Party leaders have repeatedly bashed the commission and Raja over what they claim is their partisanship and frequently pillory the electoral body as a “subsidiary of the PML-N”.
