Supreme Court Orders Police to File Case Against PM Sharif After Imran Khan Assassination Attempt

Khan's “Absolute Freedom March” was halted on Thursday following an assassination attempt against Khan, whose convoy reached Wazirabad at that time. Khan openly accused Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and an army official of being behind the attack, in which one person died and at least nine people suffered bullet injuries, including the PTI chief.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Monday ordered the police chief of Punjab to lodge a First Information Report (FIR) in the Imran Khan assassination case within 24 hours.

The police said that the provincial government was preventing Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) from registering the case despite several attempts.

Issuing a warning to Punjab police, the court said that suo-motu action will follow in case the complaint is not registered against Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, and Maj. Gen. Faisal Naseer, all of whom, as Khan believes, were allegedly involved in the attack against him.

“Under the criminal justice system, police can register the FIR itself. It’s been more than 90 hours but the FIR has yet to be registered,” the Supreme Court observed.

Local media also reported that the Punjab government was not in favor of adding Maj. Gen. Naseer, an official of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, in the complaint, but the request was rejected by the PTI.

Meanwhile, PTI’s Fawad Chaudhry has deemed the order the “first step towards justice.”

Khan, 70, sustained a bullet injury when two gunmen opened fire, shooting several rounds at him and his political aide on a container-mounted truck in the Wazirabad area of Punjab province on November 3.

After being discharged from the hospital, Khan announced he would resume the march to Pakistan's capital on Tuesday. The Islamabad police warned the PTI of strict action if they carried out protests in the capital without the permission of the administration.