Imran Khan's refusal to undergo polygraph may negatively impact May 9 case trial: Pak ATC

Lahore, Jun 16 (PTI) A Pakistani anti-terrorism court on Monday said that the refusal of incarcerated former premier Imran Khan to undergo forensic procedures including polygraph tests could adversely affect the 12 terrorism cases against him related to the May 9 riots.

Anti-Terrorism Court Lahore Judge Manzer Ali Gill said in his written order that the prosecution’s case heavily relies on digital evidence, which will be presented during the trial.

Earlier, Khan, 72, had refused to undergo polygraph (lie detector) and photogrammetric (facial and voice analysis) tests.

The tests were to be conducted for 12 terrorism cases against Khan related to the violent protests which erupted on May 9, 2023, after his arrest by paramilitary Rangers from the Islamabad High Court premises.

The judge said that Khan’s decision to decline these tests appears to be a deliberate tactic to shield himself from the implications of such evidence.

"Imran Khan will likely deny the authenticity of the digital evidence during trial by simply saying that it was not analysed or verified through forensic means. Ultimately, this refusal of the accused may go adverse against him,” he observed.

The written order was issued about the June 11 dismissal of a prosecution plea seeking more time to conduct forensic tests on Khan.

The judge said that in the ordinary course of nature, custody of an accused lies with the investigating officer (IO) during the period of physical remand and investigation process. In that scenario, he said, an accused has no chance to refuse tests or conduct of investigation.

"But the case in hand is a unique case in the history of Pakistan in which custody of the accused is not with the IO, rather he has already been confined in another case at Adiala Jail Rawalpindi. Any accused has no possibility or chance to refuse his tests etc during the course of investigation but in the present case the position is vice-versa,” the judge said.

“So in this scenario, this court is unable to understand how the investigation could be finalised?” he said, adding that in the court's view, Khan was deliberately preventing the conclusion of the probe to avoid trial.

“However, I fully agree with learned counsel for the accused that there is no mechanism available to this court to force the accused Imran Khan or compel him to get conducted his Photogrammetric, Polygraph and Voice Matching Tests etc,” the judge said.  The target for obtaining tests and completing the investigation could not be achieved without the physical custody of the accused.

The judge dismissed the prosecution request, but, directed the IO to adopt all other legal processes and techniques to conclude the investigation as per law.

The police had sought permission to conduct the tests inside the high-security Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, where Khan is currently imprisoned.

Khan has been in jail for about two years in multiple cases. PTI MZ GRS GRS GRS