Sedition case: Islamabad court accepts Imran Khan's party leader Shahbaz Gill's exemption plea

The Islamabad district and sessions court has approved Shahbaz Gill's, the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and a former SAPM, exemption plea in a sedition case on Monday, according to ARY News.

According to details, the court postponed the indictment process as it heard the sedition case against PTI leader Shahbaz Gill.

According to the court, the former SAPM will be charged with another sedition case on March 11.

The court was requested by the special prosecutor Rizwan Abbasi to hear both cases tomorrow.

Shahbaz Gill, a close aide of former Pakistan PM Imran Khan, has submitted two appeals to the Additional Sessions Judge Court, asking that the proceedings be halted pending the outcome of the Supreme Court's sou-moto decision in the murder case of Journalist Arshad Sharif.

The indictment of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former SAPM Shahbaz Gill in a sedition case was previously set for February 27 by an Islamabad district and sessions court.

The Islamabad court had denied Gill's request for an acquittal after hearing arguments and ordered him to be indicted on February 27.

Notably, Gill was the subject of a case opened at the Kohsar police station in Islamabad. He was charged with dividing the government organisation.

This was not the first time when Gill had applied for an exemption plea. Earlier, in August 2022, his bail petition was dismissed by a district and sessions court in Islamabad.

However, Gill's counsel had revealed during the same hearing that the case was a misunderstanding and that the PTI chief's aide was willing to issue an apology. Burhan Muazzam, Gill's co-counsel had said that Shahbaz Gill was ready to apologise as well and also asked about who gave the right to frame a sedition case against Gill, the Dawn newspaper had reported.

Gill too stated that the case against him was registered on a political basis and his remarks were distorted and taken in the wrong context."I'm a professor and teaching students at various universities abroad," Gill said adding that he is fixed in the case on the basis of 'dishonesty' and pleaded with the court to grant him bail in the case.

Gill was arrested by the police on August 9, 2022, after he made controversial remarks against the Pakistan army on television that was deemed as "highly hateful and seditious" by the country's media authority.

The Pakistani publication claimed that the PTI leader had attempted to incite hatred in the Pakistan Army while speaking on ARY News a day prior, which has been restricted in certain parts of the country.

( With inputs from ANI )

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