Islamabad Court Orders Imran Khan’s Production at Next Hearing in Judicial Complex Attack Case

An anti-terrorism court in Islamabad has ordered authorities to produce jailed former prime minister Imran Khan at the next hearing of the Judicial Complex attack case, either in person or through a video link, setting November 5 as the date for his court appearance.

ATC Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra issued the direction on Monday during proceedings in the case registered at Islamabad’s Ramna Police Station over violent clashes that erupted when Khan visited the Federal Judicial Complex in March 2023 to seek bail in multiple cases. According to The News, a large crowd of PTI supporters had assembled at the complex, dismantled security barriers, vandalised the entrance gate and disrupted court proceedings. Islamabad police subsequently registered a terrorism case under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act and Section 353 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

During Monday’s hearing, the court also declared former federal ministers Farrukh Habib, Hammad Azhar and Murad Saeed, along with former senator Shibli Faraz, as proclaimed offenders after they repeatedly failed to appear despite court summons. The judge directed authorities to furnish details of the four men’s properties, a step that can lead to the attachment of assets.

In addition, the court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for former Punjab Assembly deputy speaker Wasiq Qayyum Abbasi and PTI leader Hassan Niazi over their continued absence from hearings, as reported by Dawn. The hearing was then adjourned until November 5, giving prison authorities a month to ensure Khan’s production before the court.

The development adds a fresh legal dimension to the PTI founder’s already crowded court calendar. Khan, who was ousted as prime minister through a no-confidence vote in April 2022, has been in prison since August 2023. His party maintains that the numerous cases against him are politically motivated, while the federal government and the military establishment deny any interference and point to the independence of the judiciary.

Several of Khan’s earlier convictions have since been suspended or overturned, with appeals pending in other cases, according to Reuters.

Why It Matters

The court’s order arrives at a moment of unusual political heat. Only days ago, marathon government–PTI negotiations collapsed without agreement, and PTI’s long march toward Islamabad — led by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi — is now rolling through the province with convoys scheduled to reach the Peshawar area this week. Against that backdrop, the legal track and the political track are visibly tightening around each other.

The declaration of four senior figures — including three former federal ministers — as proclaimed offenders is the sharper half of Monday’s order. It widens the circle of PTI’s leadership exposed to arrest and asset attachment at precisely the time the party is trying to project disciplined mobilisation on the streets. The non-bailable warrants for Abbasi and Niazi deepen that pressure further.

That said, Khan’s actual production on November 5 will likely be a procedural formality rather than a courtroom reckoning: the order merely secures his presence and decides nothing about guilt. The real signal lies in the court’s willingness to push the case forward on a firm timetable, one that keeps the legal pressure steady through the coming weeks of political confrontation.

Three things are worth watching. First, whether Khan is produced in person or by video link on November 5 — a physical appearance would carry heavy symbolic and security weight. Second, whether the property details sought against the four declared offenders move toward actual attachment, which would materially raise the stakes for PTI’s fugitive leadership. Third, how this ruling interacts with the ongoing long march and any renewed negotiation attempts: legal momentum in courtrooms has repeatedly reshaped Pakistan’s political weather in the past, and there is little reason to think this episode will be different.

Sources

• The News: Islamabad court orders Imran Khan’s production in Judicial Complex attack case on Nov 5
• Dawn: Pakistan news page