ISLAMABAD    -    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Tuesday maintained Registrar Of­fice’s objections over PTI chairman Imran Khan’s petition, seeking de­letion of terrorism sections from an FIR registered against him in a mat­ter related to protests outside the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) building.

A two-member bench of IHC com­prising Justice Mohsin Akhter Kayani and Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahangi­ri conducted hearing of Khan’s peti­tion along with the objections raised by the Registrar’s Office (RO).

The registrar office had raised three objections against the peti­tion; including missing of biometric verification of Imran Khan and not attaching the documents of the an­ti-terrorism court (ATC). The reg­istrar office also said that the case should have been filed before the tri­al court which was a relevant forum.

During the hearing, Justice Kayani remarked that currently, they are hearing the petition with an objec­tion and how they can remove the objection of biometric verification. He asked if Imran Khan had man­aged to get bail in this case.

Khan’s counsel informed the bench that Imran Khan had got pro­tective bail from the Lahore High Court (LHC) in this matter.

Justice Kayani also asked that a fake petition of Imran Khan was also filed yesterday too and now, how they can believe that this petition was not fake. The judge asked the counsel to tell Imran Khan to come and get biometric verification.

The IHC judge added that other­wise, his plea would not be heard. He further said that they would not even hear this petition until Imran Khan gets bail.

The petition was moved by Faisal Chaudhry Advocate and Ali Bokhari Advocate on behalf of the PTI chief. In his petition, Khan prayed to the IHC to suspend the operation of the FIR till the final judgment of the court. He said that a peaceful protest was right of every citizen.

Earlier, an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Islamabad had turned down Imran Khan’s interim bail due to his continuous non-appearance in the case. Islamabad police had booked the PTI chief and scores of party workers on terrorism charges in October last year in the wake of protests after his disqualification in the Toshakhana reference.

The FIR registered against the party members claimed the protes­tors had pelted stones at the police and FC officials, leading to many in­juries. The FIR further stated that workers of the former ruling par­ty tried ramming police personnel with vehicles, set public property ablaze in Faizabad, and damaged government property.