The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday granted three-day protective bail to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan in the Al-Qadir Trust case.
Justice Mohsin Gul Hasan Aurangzeb and Justice Saman Rifat Imtiaz presided over the hearing of the case. Imran's counsel Khawaja Haris appeared in the court as well as National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor Muazaffar Abbassi.
At the outset of the hearing, the PTI chief's lawyer maintained that "this matter of bail will ultimately go to the accountability court because this court cannot decide this case on merit."
He added that Imran's cases are scheduled in Islamabad on June 8, requesting the court to grant bail till then.
The anti-graft body's prosecutor then made his remarks and said that the PTI chief can file a bail application in the NAB court today or tomorrow.
Subsequently, the court directed that Imran can approach NAB court in three days, adding that if the accountability court is not approached, the interim bail will become ineffective on June 5 (Monday).
Earlier in the day, for his appearance today, the former prime minister received permission to bring his vehicle inside the judicial complex premises where Judge Muhammad Bashir will hear the bail application.
He was, however, denied permission to bring the vehicle inside the IHC premises. Tight security was put in place at the high court premises ahead of Imran's appearance.
During an informal conversation with the media in the courtroom, when asked if Imran was in contact with President Arif Alvi, he said that "it is not true that he has no contact with Alvi".
He maintained that at this time, there is no choice except to hold elections.
“Government and establishment are the same thing, the latter is running the former,” he added.
Read: Army played no role in Imran's arrest: Khawaja Asif
The deposed premier also said that he began negotiations with the ruling coalition on the direction of the chief justice.
On the exodus of members from the party, Imran said that “this is an attempt to blackmail”. He also said that there is no public rally or meeting planned yet.y (ICT) police said that no political activity is allowed in the Red Zone of the capital.
اسلام آباد میں دفعہ 144 نافذ العمل ہے۔
ہائی سیکیورٹی زون/ ریڈ زون میں کسی بھی سیاسی سرگرمی کی اجازت نہیں ہے ۔
4 یا 4 سے زائد افراد کے اکٹھے ہونے پر قانونی کارروائی عمل میں لائی جائے گی۔
اسلام آباد میں آمد و رفت کے تمام راستے معمول کے مطابق کھلے ہیں۔#ICTP
— Islamabad Police (@ICT_Police) May 31, 2023
Read What is the corruption case against Imran Khan?
On May 18, Imran opted out of appearing before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the Al-Qadir Trust probe.
In a call-up notice sent to the PTI chief on Thursday, NAB referred to an order of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) which while granting Imran bail in the case on May 12 asked him to cooperate with NAB in its investigation into the scandal.
While executing the arrest warrant issued by the anti-graft body, paramilitary Rangers on May 9 had arrested Imran Khan from the IHC premises leading to widespread protests and incidents of vandalism and arson.
The PTI had approached the apex court against the arrest and a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court on May 11 had declared the arrest illegal while allowing the deposed premier an opportunity to seek bail from the IHC in a number of cases including the NAB case.
Read the full story at the express tribune website.
