Imran Khan produced before Supreme Court on Chief Justice of Pakistan's orders

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan was on Thursday produced before Pakistans Supreme Court after it ordered the countrys anticorruption watchdog National Accountability Bureau to bring the former cricketerturned politician as it heard his plea against his dramatic arrest in a graft caseThe top court issued the directives as a threemember bench comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Athar Minallah along with the CJP heard the former prime ministerrsquos plea against his arrest in the AlQadir Trust caseAhead of Khan being produced before the court security outside the court premises was beefed upThe bench which heard Pakistan TehreekeInsaf chairmans plea against his arrest in the AlQadir Trust case expressed anger at the way Khan was taken into custody from the premises of the Islamabad High CourtldquoThe court will issue an appropriate order todayrdquo the CJP said adding that the court was ldquovery seriousrdquo about the matterAccording to DawnNewsTV security has been tightened outside the apex court with contingents of the Rangers and police and bomb disposal squads called in Only lawyers and journalists already present in courtroom number 1 mdash where the hearing will be held mdash are allowed inside the roomPakistan media also reported that the Islamabad DIG security has reached the court to review the security situationMeanwhile the PTI has asked its supporters to stay away from the top courtAt the outset of the hearing one of Imranrsquos counsels Hamid Khan came to the rostrum and informed the apex court that his client had approached the Islamabad High Court IHC for prearrest bail Dawn Newspaper reportedAlso readPakistan unrest Imran Khan 1500 PTI workers booked for attacking army officers Lahore houseHis lawyer said that Imran was in the process of getting his biometrics done when he was arrested ldquoRangers misbehaved with Imran Khan and arrested himrdquo the lawyer saidCJP Bandial observed that court records showed that the case had not been fixed for hearing The lawyer told the court that the appeal could not be filed without completing the biometric processJustice Minallah observed that Imran had indeed entered the court premises ldquoHow can anyone be denied the right to justicerdquo he askedCJP Bandial said that there was a certain ldquorespectrdquo for the courts Recalling a past incident he said ldquoNAB had arrested a suspect from the Supreme Courtrsquos parking lot The court had then reversed the arrestrdquoThe CJP asked Imranrsquos counsel about the number of Rangers personnel who had carried out the arrest of the former premier Imranrsquos lawyer responded that ldquo100 rangers personnel entered court premisesrdquo in order to arrest the PTI chiefldquoWhat dignity remains of the court if 90 people entered its premises How can any individual be arrested from court premisesrdquo he askedldquoIn the past action has been taken against lawyers for vandalism inside the courtrdquo he observed ldquoIf an individual has surrendered to the court then what does arresting them meanrdquoHe further said that NAB had committed ldquocontempt of courtrdquo ldquoThey should have taken permission from the courtrsquos registrar before the arrest Court staffers were also subjected to abuserdquo he addedCJP Bandial emphasised that courts should be accessible to everyone for relief and that individuals should feel safe to approach the courtsImranrsquos lawyer then demanded that his client be released from NAB custody stating that the arrest was made without an investigation officer presentThe chief justice noted that the court was currently examining the manner in which the arrest was conducted and whether contempt had taken place