Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan on Friday got relief from the Balochistan High Court (BHC) after arrest warrants issued against him by a judicial officer from Quetta were suspended for two weeks.
The BHC order came after a police contingent from Quetta arrived at Khan's Zaman Park residence in Lahore city to arrest him.
24 hours earlier, Judicial Magistrate Bashir Ahmed Bazai ordered the Quetta police to arrest the cricketer-turned-politician and bring him to court.
However, Khan filed a plea in the Balochistan High Court (BHC) in which he sought cancellation of non-bailable arrest warrants issued against him besides quashing the First Information Report (FIR) lodged against him in Quetta.
After hearing arguments from both sides, Justice Zaheer-Ud-Din Kakar of the BHC gave its order, telling the police not to arrest Khan for two weeks when it will resume the hearing in the case.
The hate speech case against Khan began on March 6 after Quetta resident Abdul Khalil Kakar filed an FIR against him at a police station in the city.
In his complaint, Kakar alleged that Khan made "baseless allegations against the state institutions" in his address to the public on March 5.
The complainant added that Khan made the statement with the motive of "destroying public peace and order" as he raised questions on the independence, and autonomy of state institutions, including the Election Commission of Pakistan.