A high court here on Thursday ruled that former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan should be provided security according to his status as an ex-premier.

The Islamabad High Court heard the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief’s plea regarding being provided adequate security after Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah allegedly threatened him.

In March, Sanaullah, who is very close to former premier and London-based PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, said when the ruling party feels that its existence is under threat, it will go to any extent against its chief political rival.

“The country’s politics has been brought to the level where the existence of only one of the two (PTI and PML-N) is possible,” he said, apparently targeting Khan.

During the hearing on Thursday, the court inquired about the current security rules, as well as how much security 72-year-old Khan was being given, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

Khan’s lawyer told the court that the former prime minister, who survived an assassination attempt in November last year, could not appear before the court, to which Chief Justice Aamer Farooq said that Khan did not need to come to court in this case as it was only about the provision of security.

The high court chief justice questioned what the law stated about security for a former prime minister.

Additional Attorney General (AAG) Munawar Iqbal Duggal told the court that adequate security would be provided. The AAG maintained that the law stated that the security notification for a former premier should be issued through a special gazette.

Justice Farooq inquired if any security had been provided to Khan. The AAG stated that the former cricketer-turned-politician was given a bulletproof vehicle. He continued that after the 18th Amendment provision of security was a provincial matter.

A representative of the interior ministry said that lifetime security was supposed to be given, but the notification detailing it had not been issued.

“As long as Khan was in Islamabad, he was given foolproof security,” he said.

On the chief justice's inquiry into the current situation, the ministry representative reiterated that security had been provided to Khan.

Khan’s lawyer stated the Wazirabad incident where Khan was shot in an assassination attempt.

The chief justice remarked that the law was the law, and security should be provided according to what it stated.

“Whatever the rule of law is, submit it to the court. A prisoner has rights if he is in prison,” he added.

The chief justice stated that the former prime minister should get security according to his status.

While seeking the security rules given for former prime ministers, the court remarked that it would issue appropriate orders when the rules were submitted.

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