ISLAMABAD  -   A local district and sessions court yesterday acquitted incarcerated PTI founding Chairman Imran Khan, Asad Umar, Ali Nawaz Awan and others in a case of taking out an illegal rally and resorting to vandalism, registered with the Margalla police station on May 6, 2023. Advocate Amna Ali representing the PTI leaders filed an ap­plication for acquittal un­der section 249-A in the court of Judge Mureed Ab­bas Shah and argued in the court that it was a political case and the rally was held by PTI to show solidari­ty with the then Chief Jus­tice of Pakistan, Umar Atta Bandial, and judiciary. Im­ran Khan had announced a nationwide rally on May 6, 2023 to show solidari­ty with former CJP Umar Atta Bandial’s decision to hold elections in the prov­inces of Punjab and Khy­ber Pakhtunkha. Imran had addressed the rallies via video link all over Pa­kistan from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore. The capital police station had filed a case against the PTI Islamabad lead­ership and also nominat­ed over 170 protestors of the rally. They also arrest­ed 39 PTI workers on the charges of violation of sec­tion 144, using loudspeak­er, vandalism etc. After lis­tening the arguments, the court judge accepted the application and acquitted all the accused persons in­cluding Imran Khan. In the detailed judgement, the judge ordered that the complaint in violation of section 144 can only be filed by District Magis­trate Islamabad or some other public servant to whom he is subordinate. ASI Margalla P.S. has no authority to file a com­plaint in the violation of section 144, he further said. The judgement also stated that no private in­dependent witness has been associated by the in­vestigation agency.