Imran wins protective bail in terrorism cases

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court has granted protective bail to PTI Chairman Imran Khan in two separate cases. The first case involves two FIRs filed against him on terrorism charges, and the second case relates to two call-up notices issued to him by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for different inquiries. The protective bails were granted by two division benches of the court, one led by Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi and the other by Justice Baqar Ali Najafi.

A single bench of Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh also issued notices, seeking replies from the Punjab chief secretary and IGP by March 28 in a contempt petition filed by Imran against breach of the terms of reference (ToRs) during the Zaman Park operation at his residence that the local police, provincial administration and PTI leadership had agreed upon.

Justice Sheikh, while hearing another plea filed by PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry seeking details of the cases registered against Imran and other party leaders, sought the complete record from the federal law office along with an affidavit by March 22.

The judge also restrained authorities from taking any coercive measures against Imran and other leaders until the submission of the details to the court.

As the proceedings commenced, Imran’s lawyers Azhar Siddique and Barrister Salman Safdar complained to the court about the police violating the ToRs after giving a commitment to the court.

They argued that the police had committed contempt of court by conducting an “illegal” operation at Imran’s Zaman Park residence under the garb of a search warrant.

The PTI chief, appearing first before Justice Sheikh’s court, took the rostrum and said he was hiding before reaching the LHC.

He added that he had used a vehicle, which was not familiar to anyone.

Imran, who was ousted from the post of the prime minister in April last year, complained that his wife was at home when police forcibly went inside by breaking the main gate and windows.

He added that the operation was carried out despite the police high-ups, local administration and PTI reaching an agreement on the ToRs.

The PTI chief maintained that the screaming of his family members could be heard on the CCTV cameras installed at his residence.

He expressed his astonishment that he was being restrained by police officials from heading towards courts so that he could acquire bail in the cases against him.

On a point, Justice Sheikh remarked that he would not spare those who were making a mockery of the judiciary on TV talk shows.

The lawyers also told the court that several cases had been registered against the PTI chief and other party leaders, but they were not being provided with their details.

During the proceedings, Justice Sheikh directed Imran’s private guards to leave the court, noting that the police officials present there were enough for his security.

However, the assistant advocate general expressed his lack of trust in the court, requesting the judge to shift the matter to another one.

This irked Justice Sheikh, who asked which specific aspect he lacked confidence in, adding that the matter was already proceeding in his court.

He warned that he would initiate contempt proceedings if this conduct was repeated.

Justice Sheikh remarked that the court had been issuing notices, seeking the record of the cases.

“Today is the era of WhatsApp. You can obtain the record through WhatsApp,” he added.

After that, Imran appeared before a division bench headed by Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi, where he was granted protective bail until March 27 in two FIRs registered against him under different charges including Section 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA).

As proceedings started, Imran’s lawyer Barrister Salman Safdar told the court that the signatures on the petitions and other documents were scanned, but originally belonged to his client.

To this, Justice Rizvi directed the lawyer to acquire his client's original signatures on the petitions, affidavit and other related documents.

When the lawyer told the bench about two protective bails in NAB-related matters, Justice Rizvi observed that this bench was not hearing matters pertaining to the anti-graft body.

Those matters would be heard by the relevant bench, Justice Rizvi remarked.

However, the bench granted Imran protective bails in two FIRs registered against him in Golra and CTD police stations in Islamabad.

Later, Imran had to wait in the same court for the fixation of his pleas related to NAB’s call-up notices to him.

As the PTI chief left for the other division bench, police officials intercepted his vehicle.

They did not allow him to move towards that courtroom along with his vehicle. Imran had to reach there on foot.

The PTI chief appeared before another division bench headed by Justice Najafi, where he had filed pleas for two protective bails – one in a NAB’s call-up notice in response to an inquiry it had initiated for the “misuse of authority; criminal breach of trust; and illegal gain in selling gifted state assets” and the second  call-up notice issued by the anti-graft body in connection with its probe pertaining to “misuse of authority; financial gains and criminal breach of trust in recovery of crime proceeds received from the UK; and illegal sealing of its record”.

Imran’s lawyer Safdar told the court that an institution was already conducting an investigation and a trial was also underway.

However, he added that all of a sudden, NAB also started an inquiry into the Toshakhana case.

The lawyer argued that it had become an uphill task for him to assist his client in the bulk of cases registered against him.

He told the court that this time, 97 cases had been registered against Imran and other party leaders.

To this, another lawyer representing the PTI chief Azhar Siddique told the court that his client was approaching his “non-cricketing” century.

The lawyers argued that Imran wanted to appear before Islamabad’s relevant court but a NAB team reached his Zaman Park residence every day.

The bench granted Imran protective bails till March 31.

Taking the rostrum, Imran told the court that the elections were scheduled to take place on April 30, but his movement had been confined to the courts instead of him running his poll campaign.

He added that by attending court proceedings, there was no time left for him to distribute election tickets.

The PTI chief claimed that no FIR was registered against him for 50 years, but now 96 had been filed in the last six months.

Earlier, as Imran’s vehicle reached near the court of Justice Sheikh, a pistol was seen near it.

After hue and cry, police officials took the pistol into their possession.

Later, it was stated that perhaps it belonged to a police official and it fell down because of the crowd that had gathered at the scene.

Furthermore, as Imran was sitting before Justice Rizvi, the lawyers present there suddenly started making noise, saying there was a device behind the doors of the courtroom.

The police officials took the device into their possession and confirmed that it was only a wireless set.

Later, the officials said perhaps it belonged to a police officer.

Separately, the Islamabad High Court, while accepting the PTI chairman’s request for exemption from appearance, extended his interim bail in an “attempted murder” case till April 6.

The state counsel told the court that Imran had not participated in the investigation yet despite the issuance of two notices.

Imran’s lawyer Faisal Chaudhry told the IHC that his client was busy appearing before courts in Lahore and that was why he could not come to Islamabad.

He added that the investigating officer of the case thought that in-person recording of statement was necessary.

Chaudhry further said either the investigating officer could accompany him to Lahore for this purpose or Imran could record his statement when he arrived at the IHC.

IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq directed Imran’s lawyer to coordinate with the investigating officer on how Imran’s statement would be recorded.

PML-N leader Mohsin Ranjha had registered a case of “attempted murder” against the PTI chairman in October last year.

He filed the case against Imran a day after being attacked outside the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) office in Islamabad, where PTI workers and supporters were protesting against the verdict of the commission, which disqualified the deposed premier in the Toshakhana case.

(With input from our correspondent in Islamabad)