Non-bailable arrest warrants issued against former Pak PM Imran Khan for threatening woman judge
Islamabad, Mar 13: Two non-bailable arrest warrants were issued against ousted prime minister Imran Khan on Monday for failing to appear in courts in the Toshakhana case and for threatening a woman magistrate while addressing a public gathering here last year.
Khan, the 70-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician, who has been recovering from a gunshot injury from an assassination attempt in Wazirabad last year, has skipped indictment hearings in these cases.
The courts of Additional District and Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal (hearing the Toshakhana case) and Senior Civil Judge Rana Mujahid Rahim (hearing the threatening judge case) issued arrest warrants for Imran and instructed the police to present him before the courts on March 18 and March 21 respectively.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief was in the crosshairs for buying gifts, including an expensive Graff wristwatch he had received as the premier at a discounted price from the state depository called Toshakhana and selling them for profit.
Meanwhile, a team of Islamabad Police flew to Lahore to arrest Khan for threatening a woman judge after a district and sessions court issued his non-bailable arrest warrant for failing to attend the hearing in that case.
The case against Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was registered in August last year, over his remarks at a rally here, in which he warned Additional District and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry and top police officials of dire consequences for their "biased" attitude towards his party.
He also blamed them for the treatment meted out to his aide Shehbaz Gill, whom he alleged was subjected to torture in judicial custody.
Initially, Khan was booked under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code after the Islamabad High Court initiated contempt of court proceedings against the former premier.
In September last year, Khan appeared before the sessions judge to personally apologise to Chaudhry.
Consequently, the Islamabad High Court removed terrorism charges against Khan.
However, a similar case was filed against him after the FIR was registered.
Khan has heavily criticised the state institutions after a botched attempt by police to arrest him from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore earlier this month.
According to Khan, he was facing at least 80 different cases in various courts across Pakistan.
Khan was ousted from power in April last year after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China, and Afghanistan.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Govt floats tender for new Shivaji Maharaj statue in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg
Mumbai (PTI): In the wake of collapse of the Shivaji Maharaj statue in Sindhudurg, the Maharashtra government has issued a tender for the construction of a new 60-foot-tall statue there, nearly twice the size of the previous one, officials said on Wednesday.
The statue will be built at a cost of Rs 20 crore and the government has set a six-month timeframe for the completion of the work, they said.
A 35-foot-tall statue of the 17th century Maratha empire founder, unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Rajkot fort in Malvan tehsil of Sindhudurg district on December 4 (Navy Day) last year, collapsed on August 26 amid strong winds.
The statue's sculptor, Jaydeep Apte, was later arrested.
The government has faced flak as the opposition parties alleged the decision to install the statue in Sindhudurg was taken haphazardly, which resulted in poor quality of work.
Maharashtra Public Works Department (PWD) had flagged concerns over rust gathering on Shivaji Maharaj’s statue and suggested permanent measures in a letter sent to a Naval official just six days before the structure collapsed.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had said the statue was designed and constructed by the Indian Navy.
He claimed winds were blowing at 45 km per hour when the statue collapsed.
A tender has been issued for the construction of a new statue and its height would be 60 feet, a PWD official said.
"The total cost would now be Rs 20 crore, including its engineering, installation and maintenance. The government has given six months to complete the work. The height of the statue would be 60 feet," the official said.
