LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Friday extended the protective bail for 3 days in 5 cases filed against him in the federal capital.
Khan – who was ousted by a no-confidence motion in April last year – arrived at the Lahore High Court under tight security earlier today, where a two-judge special bench comprising Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh and Justice Anwar Hussain heard the petition. and decided whether to grant bail or not. Was it worth keeping or not?
The former prime minister is facing several court cases, which he says are politically motivated and designed to keep him out of the polls later this year.
Last week, security forces and Khan’s supporters clashed near his home – when police raided his Zaman Park residence – and he was on his way to the Islamabad High Court. Police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd who tried to stop the arrest of the former prime minister.
Earlier today, the Registrar Office of the Lahore High Court had attached objections to the application as the PTI chief had already secured bail in the cases.
As the hearing began, Khan’s lawyer told the judges that the former prime minister was seeking security to travel to the federal capital where several political cases were registered against him.
On this, Justice Shaikh said that no such example can be given when protective bail is again given.
Khan’s lawyer argued that the legal team is also struggling to understand how to get bail as there are many cases against the ousted prime minister.
Justice Shaikh said that it would have been better if this petition had been registered in the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
Arguing for himself, Khan said that last time when he went to Islamabad, all the roads were blocked, even today he came secretly.
“In Islamabad, the police used teargas and lathi charge on people which forced us to return,” claimed the cricketer-turned-politician, who “ran from there” for his life.
Khan’s lawyer told the court that he was only asking for a working day so that he could reach Islamabad. However, the government counsel objected to this.
After hearing the arguments, the two-judge bench directed the office to dispose of Khan’s application and adjourned the hearing till then.
After the hearing resumed following the court’s direction to settle the plea, Khan’s counsel admitted that he knew the plea was not “comfortable” as he was seeking an extension of protective bail.
“We have a strong basis,” the lawyers said, on which Justice Shaikh directed them to narrate the events that had transpired since the last hearing on March 17 when they were granted anticipatory bail.
Last week, Khan had secured anticipatory bail in eight terror cases and one civil case – a total of nine – when he appeared in court in person. For five Islamabad cases, the court granted Khan bail till March 24 and for three Lahore cases for 10 days (March 27).
The lawyer started narrating the events informing the court that he had gone to Islamabad to file a bail application on March 18, but was not allowed to enter the federal capital.
A two-judge bench asked the government counsel whether bail applications had been filed or not. “We are not aware of this,” the government’s lawyer told the court.
Were these applications scheduled for hearing? The judges questioned, upon which Khan’s counsel informed them that the applications were currently with the staff of the District and Sessions Court in Islamabad.
The Lahore High Court directed that the concerned authorities should call the Prosecutor General within half an hour. On which the court was told that he was not there, he added that if the court was convinced that the petitions were filed in the Islamabad court, he would not oppose it.
The court further said that the bail application cannot be fixed for hearing unless the applicant himself is present in the court. The lawyer representing the PTI chief resumed his statement regarding the timeline of events, saying, “That is the reason why the case was not heard because Khan could not appear in court.”
“March 19 was a Sunday and then on March 21 we got more bails as a total of 140 cases have been registered against Khan,” he said, adding that no case had been booked on March 22 while March 23 was a public holiday.
The lawyers said that all the cases are politically motivated and none of the relief granted so far has been misused.
“It is impossible to defend all these cases at various points as Khan is a 71-year-old man and is still recovering from the injuries he sustained during the assassination attack in November last year,” the lawyers argued. It is difficult to visit Islamabad again and again.
The court asked the PTI chief to file an affidavit that the bail application has been filed in Islamabad.
Justice Shaikh said that we do not want to establish any tradition, the decision in this case will be given in the future.
Khan’s lawyers assured the court that he would “endeavour” to submit the affidavit by 4:45 pm, after which the judges adjourned the hearing for a short time.
