Maneka slapping case: 25 including PTI lawyers booked

ISLAMABAD: A terrorism case has been registered against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders and lawyers for slapping Khawar Manika outside a court in Islamabad, police said on Thursday, May 30, 2024

An FIR has been registered at the Ramna Police Station, Islamabad, and 12 policemen have become witnesses to the slapping incident. The names of 25 accused including PTI lawyers Naeem Panjotha, Ali Ijaz Butter, Zahid Bashir Dar, Usman Gill and Ansar Kayani were included in the FIR.

According to the FIR, as court proceedings commenced in Islamabad, PTI leaders and lawyers began gathering outside the court. Advocate Burki was leading the PTI lawyers and activists outside the court. When the hearing ended and Khawar Manika came out, Advocate Burki shouted that Manika had testified against their leader Imran Khan, so he should not be left alive. The FIR said Advocate Burki then pushed Khawar Manika and Naeem Panjotha Advocate assaulted him with punches.

PTI female workers threw bottles at Manika and even had a scuffle with him while PTI lawyers slapped him inside the courtroom. As the Islamabad district and sessions court did not announce its already reserved verdict in the Iddat case against Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi, the complainant Khawar Maneka, the former husband of Bushra Bibi, was assaulted outside the court.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf spokesperson has rejected the registration of a ‘false, concocted and baseless’ case against the party’s legal team members, calling it political revenge.

The PTI spokesperson vehemently condemned the inclusion of terrorism-related sections in the false case against the legal team members. He demanded the court take immediate action against the perpetrators of this heinous conspiracy and bring the culprits to justice.

“We reject this absurd case against the hardworking, professional, and law-abiding members of the PTI legal team,” he maintained.