A district and sessions court on Monday acquitted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and other party leaders in two vandalism cases related to the long march.
Other acquitted leaders include Zartaj Gul, Ali Nawaz Awan, Faisal Javed, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Qasim Suri, Raja Khurram Nawaz, Shireen Mazari, Saifullah Niazi, Asad Umar, and Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmad.
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The cases, filed at the Kohsar and Karachi Company police stations, involved alleged violations of Section 144. The court delivered its verdict after hearing the acquittal pleas submitted by Khan and his associates.
Judicial Magistrate Shahzad Khan issued the acquittal verdict for Khan, Qureshi, Rashid, Awan, Suri, and Nawaz in the Kohsar police station case. Meanwhile, Judicial Magistrate Mureed Abbas announced the reserved decision for the acquittal of Khan, Qureshi, Mazari, Niazi, Umar, Gul, Awan, Javed, and Nawaz in the Karachi Company police station case.
Khan’s lawyer, Naeem Panjotha, stated to journalists in the federal capital that the cases were motivated by political vengeance and lacked evidence of vandalism. He noted that the Islamabad administration had not issued a notification enforcing Section 144 at the time of the long march.
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Panjotha highlighted that Khan and other PTI leaders have been acquitted in several similar cases related to the long march. This latest acquittal follows a district and sessions court decision on May 15, which also cleared Khan of charges in two May 9 vandalism cases.
Despite these acquittals, Khan remains in Adiala jail, facing various other allegations related to the violence that erupted following his arrest on May 9. Additionally, on May 16, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) approved Khan’s bail petition in the £190 million National Crime Agency (NCA) settlement reference.