After the Supreme Court declared Imran Khan's arrest "illegal", President Dr Arif Alvi visited Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman late Thursday evening at the rest house in the Police Lines, where he is staying till his appearance before the Islamabad High Court today (Friday), The News reported.

According to sources, the president briefed the PTI chief about the situation in the country and his communication held with the military authorities on his arrest and the situation in the wake of it.

The sources said that Khan later called Gilgit Baltistan Chief Minister Khalid Khurshid. He too joined the discussions which lasted for more than two hours till after midnight.

It is important to note that President Arif Alvi had written a letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and deplored the manner in which Imran Khan was arrested inside the IHC premises.

"I would like to draw your attention to the way Imran Khan was arrested," the president wrote in his strongly-worded letter two days after the PTI chief was arrested in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case, which led to widespread deadly protests.

"The people of Pakistan and I were shocked to see the video of this incident. The video shows the abuse of a former prime minister. Imran Khan is a popular leader and the head of a major political party."

Imran repeats allegations against military officer

During his appearance in the Supreme Court, Khan — responding to a query by a foreign media representative who asked him if he was nabbed because he made allegations against a serving military officer — reiterated that his allegations against a serving military officer are not mere accusations but a reality. 

According to a Middle Eastern network report, Khan said that no talks with the opponents would be possible since they don’t believe in Constitution. 

His attention was drawn by a newsman about the advice of the chief justice. Khan reminded that the Constitution ordains for polls within 90 days "but they [coalition government] are shying away". 

"The need is to restore the Constitution and after that it would be seen how to proceed," he said.

After the hearing, he was told that Asad Umar, Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Fawad Chaudhary were also arrested. On this, Khan became angry and asked why he was not informed about it earlier, so that he could raise all these points before the court.

In response to a question about the attack on the residence of the corps commander Lahore, Khan refused to comment saying that since he had no knowledge of anything, how could he offer comments about it.

Source: Geo News

BDST: 1605 HRS, MAY 12, 2023
MN