WORLD NEWS | PAKISTAN: Lahore High Court bans PTI from holding rally in Minar-e-Pakistan

Islamabad [Pakistan], March 16 (ANI): The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday banned the Pakistan Justice Movement (PTI) from holding a rally in Iqbal Park (Minar-e-Pakistan) this Sunday. According to Geo News, the court asked PTI to allow citizens to lead normal lives.

The party plans to hold a “historic” public rally in Lahore’s Minar-e-Pakistan on March 19, which will be led by PTI chairman Imran Khan. Judges criticized the party for not planning public rallies ahead of time. He said if the party was going to hold a jalsa, preparations should have started 15 days earlier.

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“For God’s sake, let people go about their daily lives. Your rally is not going to happen this Sunday. Even if one gets married, they plan ahead,” the judge said, according to Geo News. The judge asked party leaders to resolve the issue with the authorities.

“As a nation, we are embarrassed,” the judge said, and asked the PTI to reschedule the rally again.

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PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry had appealed to the High Court a day earlier in an attempt to stop police operations in the Zaman Park area. Following a court order, police have moved to arrest former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case.

During the initial hearing, the high court directed the police to suspend operations until 10am today, which helped calm the situation at Imran Khan’s residence, Geo News reported.

Judge Tariq Salim Sheikh resumed the hearing today, noting that neither the LHC nor the Islamabad High Court (IHC) prevented law enforcement officers from executing the arrest warrant for the ousted prime minister.

In a subsequent order, the court said that “the order passed yesterday” would remain in effect until the next hearing, meaning that according to news reports, operations at Zaman Park have been suspended until tomorrow.

Nearly 24 hours of clashes took place between PTI staff and law enforcement officers who tried to arrest Imran Khan through party supporters, Geo News reported. Law enforcement officers fired tear gas and party supporters began throwing Molotov cocktails, injuring dozens of people, mostly police, in the process. (Arnie)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)