Balochistan High Court (BHC) has dismissed a first information report (FIR) nominating Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former premier Imran Khan in the murder case of lawyer Abdul Razzaq Shar.
The two-member bench, comprising Justice Gul Hasan Tareen and BHC Chief Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, announced the verdict on the Insaf Lawyers Forum's (ILF) petition by quashing the murder charge and suspending the arrest order for Khan.
"Alhamdulillah, the court has dismissed the FIR registered against Imran Khan in Bijli Road police station in Quetta; once again, Imran Khan has been vindicated in a false case; congratulations to all Pakistan on the victory of justice," Khan's counsel Naeem Haider Panjutha wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
The former prime minister, who was ousted in a no-confidence vote in April of this year, was charged with the murder of a lawyer who was shot dead on Airport Road in Quetta, Balochistan, in June of last year by unidentified gunmen.
On the allegation of the murdered lawyer's son, Advocate Siraj Ahmed, an FIR was filed against Khan and others in Quetta under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and other provisions.
Khan subsequently filed a plea in the Supreme Court to overturn the FIRs against him and was granted relief when the high court stopped the police from detaining him.
The PTI chairman's detention in the murder case was stayed last week by the Supreme Court. The appeal objecting to Khan's name being added to the FIR was heard by a three-member bench under the direction of Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial.
Prior to his murder, Razzaq had petitioned the court, arguing that Khan should be charged with treason for unconstitutionally dissolving the National Assembly after losing a vote of confidence in April 2022.